Fullflame
by Bar-Ohki
Summary: Crossover with Loveless. Roy and Ed share a Name, but their pasts and places in society prevent them to being together. Can they endure? RoyEd Completed!
1. Alone

-1**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Summary: Crossover with Loveless. Roy and Ed share a Name, but their pasts and places in society prevent them to be together. Can they endure? RoyEd

Warning: This is a yoai, if you don't like that, I suggest clicking the back button now.

Rating: M, because in Loveless the series there was no sex. I'm not going to keep that from my story. There is also gore and violence that is not suited for younger readers.

Other Stuff: I'm just borrowing the concepts behind Sacrifices and Fighter Units from Loveless. I am not using the cat ear thing, sorry. For those who have not read Loveless, I explain the concepts thoroughly. And not to worry, I have not forgotten about my other stories. I can't promise consistent updates (school comes first) but I will try for once a week.

Chapter 1: Alone

Two hundred years ago in the country of Amestris a group of scientists had discovered that when two people have the same birthmark (which always bore an uncanny resemblance to a word) together they had strange powers. After intense study and experimenting, the scientists presented their findings to their beloved Fuhrer.

The discoveries were as follows: people who shared the same marks were a 'word pair'. One was a 'fighter unit' that when certain circumstances were provided, could fight and cast spells using the power of words. The other was a 'sacrifice' that during combat, would receive all damage and strategize. It did not take long for the media to catch wind of this.

When the news hit the streets the entire country grew fearful of these people and their powers. Soon the fear reached a breaking point, people with any sort of birthmark found themselves fleeing for their lives. It was then the Fuhrer stepped in to calm the panic. He declared that all children must undergo a mandatory inspection to see if they had a 'second name'. If a child did, they were taken into military custody to be trained. All 'word pairs' were closely monitored by the government and lived to serve the people.

On the eve of his 30th birthday, Roy Mustang paused to remember his examination from 25 years prior.

_The doctor had asked him to strip naked, and naked he did strip. The doctor looked him up and down, studying every inch of skin of his body with precision and seriousness. There was a small, yet firm tap on the back of his neck._

_" 'Fullflame'." The doctor read out loud. "That is your Second Name."_

_" 'Fullflame'…." Roy echoed, letting the word roll slowly, experimentally off his lips._

_"Its right back here." A finger gently traced the word. Roy shuddered his entire being telling him that touch was **wrong.**_

_"Stop!" Roy pulled away._

_"Ah, it is not a birthmark then. I have to check you know." The doctor babbled. "It's important that what I did made you uncomfortable- until you find your Other Half that will not be touched."_

Now Roy rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a slight bit of pleasure from the contact. He was proud of his name, proud of the fact that he was a Sacrifice. Roy had studied intensely, purposely underwent extreme pain and suffering to assure he would be a perfect Sacrifice. But as every year had worn on, there had never been another 'Fullflame'. And with every year that passed, the ache in Roy's heart grew. He would be 30 tomorrow, 30 years incomplete.

Roy sighed, his onyx eyes shutting as he let his face relax. He tried to imagine his Other Half running their hands through Roy's raven hair. Unfortunately, Roy had an overactive and somewhat perverted imagination, it did not take it long to wind up imagining wild sex with his Other Half. Whoever they were.

Slowly, Roy laid down into his large, empty bed. He sighed again remembering that he would have to face the ridicule and shame of being incomplete all of tomorrow. His perpetrators were especially active around his birthday.

**Beep.**

It was now midnight. Roy was now 30. He looked out his bedroom window, his onyx eyes melting into the stars. He sighed.

"I wish that my Other Half would visit me today." He asked the stars gently, sounding a little desperate. Roy shut his eyes and began to relax into sleep.

**Crash!**

Roy was out of his bed within moments. He grabbed his rifle and went outside to find the source of noise in his yard. His eyes widened in fear. Something was wrong.

"Roy Mustang." A man came out of the bushes. He was clad in a dark robe.

"The disgrace." Another appeared, also wearing the same occult robe.

"The failure." Yet another freak in black appeared, this one taller than the others.

"The incomplete." This one had a female voice that was full of venom.

"I'm Roy Mustang!" Roy snapped back irritably. "I am Fullflame!"

"We declare a battle of spells." The woman and the second man declared, their voices held an errie echo that was associated with battling.

"I accept." Roy knew it was suicidal to do this. But he had been alone so very long, he just couldn't wait.

The battle was one-sided, Roy had no attacker or defender. He just endured, as he always did. And when death had finally seemed to warm him in its dark embrace, Roy heard a new voice.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut in." It was the unmistakable sound of a spell being cast. Roy passed out before he could register more.

**-break-**

Roy awoke the next afternoon to find himself in a hospital. It was one of those paisley white rooms that smelled too strongly of bleach and other sanitation chemicals. He scanned the room wearily, not wanting to have a near death experience in the immediate future. It during this search he saw a red coat slung over the back of one of the chairs.

_Click!_

A nurse walked in, clad in a proper white attire.

"Oh! You're awake! Wonderful!" She exclaimed as she sat down and began to run through all the medical questions that were required of her. Roy answered them.

"If you have anything to ask me, feel free!" Clara, her name was, told him.

"How'd I get here?" Roy asked, thinking he should have had been killed the other night.

"Oh a boy-" she cut herself off as the door opened. Roy glanced around her to take in a young boy, with long blond hair and golden eyes. His skin was pleasantly tan, making him very, very easy on the eyes. He wore a high collared black jacket and black leather pants. On his feet were a pair of sturdy, leather boots.

"-he's the one that brought you in." Clara finished. The boy nodded in acknowledgement. He gave Clara a pleading look. She stood up.

"I'll leave you two to it then!" She all but sang merrily as she left. The boy walked right up to Roy's side, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Who-" Roy was cut of by a finger pressing against his lips. Roy glared at the kid, not understanding the need for silence.

In response the boy unclasped his jacket and took it off. He then pulled the back tank top that was underneath off. The young, narrow fingers traced a birthmark. Not just any birthmark, one that bore an uncanny resemblance to the word 'Fullflame'.

"My-" Roy choked on his words, "-Other Half." The boy nodded again and took Roy's hand. The amount of care and love by which the boy held it, all it did was leave Roy breathless. Then his fingers made contact with the Name. Roy felt something new and pure within him. Belonging, understanding, and love all at once. It was a perfection that Roy could never describe. The boy took another step forward and put his hand on Roy's mark. It felt _right_.

"Edward Elric." The boy whispered, his voice gentle and beautiful.

"Roy Mustang." Roy was falling for this child hard and fast, his tongue licking his lips in anticipation. Edward pulled himself onto Roy's lap and kissed him. It was an awkward kiss, as to be expected from someone who had never kissed before. Roy smiled beneath the kiss, happy all the same. Ed pushed him back onto the hospital bed, rubbing Roy's Name all the while.

"Sleep." Ed's voice might have had an echo, but it was still gentle and loving. Roy found his eyelids heavy, and soon he gave into his body's desire to sleep. Edward sat back up, looking at Roy lovingly, holding the man's hand to his Name.

"Rest heals all wounds. Now it heals yours." Edward's voice was stern and serious. A small white glow emitted from Roy's wounds. Within seconds the white shrunk and went out. Edward checked beneath the bandages to see that his wounds were not only shut, but scar-less. He nodded, satisfied.

Edward slid off the bed and gave Roy one last kiss on the forehead.

_I wish I could __**talk**__. I wish I could tell you why I can't be by your side. But if you call me, I will come. I promise._ Edward swallowed the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. He left the room sadly.

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	2. Fantasy

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist is not mine.

Other Stuff: College, what an interesting thing. This is my first term, should my free time hold I'll be writing pretty consistently all year, should it not, you'll see updates on the weekends.

Chapter 2: Fantasy

One hundred years ago the military discovered that the children produced from Word Pairs were always part of a pair themselves. They were always more powerful than their parents and their name longer and more unique. When on scientist innocently presented his charts on Word Pair genealogy and genetics, the military passed a law stating that all Word Pairs were to undergo some form of permanent birth control to prevent the 'race' of the Word Pairs from growing out of control. It also became illegal for them to produce children, and any children produced were to be killed upon birth.

Roy always hated those laws, but thankfully for him there was a small loophole that stated that an Unpaired part of a Word Pair didn't have to undergo any sort of surgery until they found their Other Half. Should that half be of the same gender, it was unnecessary. That had been a more recent reform to the law, at the operations were risky, painful, and most importantly, costly.

It was the relief that he would not have to undergo the so-called "correctional surgery" that he awoke to. His face was covered with a dumb smile that most would associate with post-extremely-good-sex. To Roy the normally stiff hospital bed was comfy and warm, the air smelled like something good as opposed to sanitation chemicals, and the sun was shinning instead of the overcast sky that poured into the room. There was _nothing_ that could make today a bad day, Roy had his Other Half, he was _whole_. And no person was going to take that away from him.

Roy felt better too. He examined his body briefly, not having had had a good look at the damage yesterday. To his shock, he was fine. In fact, he had never been better. Not only had his more recent wounds healed, but so had the older ones. His body was scarless! Roy timidly ran his hand down his smooth chest. His skin was once again soft, like a newborn's.

_My body is perfect!!_ Roy's eyes were wide in awe._**How!?**_ Soon plagued his mind. Roy was a man of logic, but there was nothing logical to waking up two days after being literally beaten within an inch of your life to being so perfect or whole.

_Whole!_ Roy gasped at the thought. Perhaps when you meet your Other Half your body restores itself and becomes whole as a physical representation of your new state? That was certainly the most likely thing, but wouldn't that have had been mentioned in one of his classes?

Roy sat on his bed, perplexed.

It was there the nurse found him. She was so shaken by Roy's new appearance that she dropped the tray of medicine she had been holding.

"Doctor!!" She screeched, her eyes wide in amazement.

"Hmm?" Roy looked at her, honestly confused. A doctor came running in. His jaw dropped.

"H-how!?" The man was shaking.

"I thought you were going to tell me?" Roy asked the man. "All I recall doing was sleeping…. Which reminds me, how long have I been asleep?"

"An hour at the most!" The nurse gasped. "This kind of healing is unheard of!"

"I was afraid of that…." Roy smiled with a sweatdrop, knowing he was _not_ going to live that down at work.

"I'm going to examine you to make sure this isn't a hoax." The doctor explained as he walked into the room.

"Feel free, I'd like to know that too." Roy nodded to the man. "Wait, where's Edward?" As the name rolled of Roy's lips he relished the sound and feel of his Other Half's name.

" 'Edward'?" The nurse asked, the doctor also mimicking her confusion.

"You know, the boy who brought me in?" Roy reminded them.

"I don't recall who brought you in exactly, but I am sure it wasn't a boy…." The nurse assured Roy.

"He was blonde, about yeh tall," Roy held his hand at Edward's height to demonstrate, "with gold eyes. You're the one who told me that he was the one who brought me in!"

"I don't recall anyone like that." The nurse was confused. "He may have some brain damage, doctor."

"I don't! He came in right after you did when I woke up!" Roy roared, amazed the woman hadn't remembered that.

"Perhaps you were having an extremely vivid dream?" The doctor asked. "It happens with some coma patients, and you had been in one too."

"A fantasy?" Roy whispered. "It was all just a fantasy?"

"Yes, Mr. Mustang, now let me check your wounds…." The doctor went about his business. Roy grew numb and stiff, his life having lost its meaning and joy.

_Why can't they remember?_

**-break-**

A very real Edward stood on a nearby rooftop looking into the hospital room window.

_I'm sorry I had to tell them to forget me, my love._ Edward shut his eyes, forcing back his sobs and tears as he had been trained to do from a young age.

_This is for the best, I assure you._ Edward held out his hand to the raven haired man in the window below him, as if the man could see it to take it.

"Your free time is up." A cold, sinister voice reminded Edward from behind. Ed nodded and turned around to face the other person, his face set in a determined scowl. Edward walked past the person who watched him from behind violet eyes.

_Don't worry Ed, I'll keep your little weakness a secrete a little while longer…._ The person smiled, a smile like that of a murder having just found their next victim.

**-break-**

"Colonel!" Everyone in the room cried as Roy entered his office later that day. They were shocked.

"Good afternoon, now get back to work." Purposefully, Roy walked past all the dropped jaws and skeptical looks to sit in his chair. He picked up a sheet of paper and began reading it.

"Sir, pardon my rudeness, but what the hell?" Hawkeye asked him sharply. Her choice of final word startled Roy, making him jump a little and look at her.

"What?" He asked.

"We were told that you were severally beaten yesterday, somehow your perpetrators wound up in comas, then you come in less than 12 hours later as if nothing happened!" She snapped.

"…." The last thing Roy wanted was to be made a fool by his subordinates. They all looked at him expectantly.

"I want you to hear my story out before you cast any judgment." Roy looked as pleading as he did haunted. They nodded, saluting to emphasis their resolve to grant his request.

"…My Other Half saved me." Roy began gently. "He hauled me to the hospital. I saw him not too long after I woke up," Roy found himself relishing in the memory, "his Name was right here…." Roy traced the front of his chest. It was uncommon, but not unheard of for Word Pairs to have their names in slightly different places.

"What'd he look like, boss?" Havoc, a tall man who smoked asked.

"Long blond hair, gold eyes, and such a perfect tan…." Roy's eyes were focused off into his memories. It was a look anyone in the military knew, the look of a member of a Word Pair thinking of their Other Half.

"He was young too, still a bit of a child." Roy chuckled, age gaps were rare, but again, not unheard of.

"Did he tell you his name, you know the normal one?" Breda, a fat strategist with a head of red hair asked.

"It was Edward," again savored, "Edward Elric."

"Where is he?" Falman, an elder man with gray hair and an acute memory.

Roy's illusion shattered, he gripped his desk and began shaking. Never before in his life had he felt so **alone** or **disappointed**. His control and strength threatened to fail and leave him on the ground in a pile of tears.

"I-I-I!" Roy choked on the words, desperate. "I don't-" he cut himself off, fearing the answer, fearing the truth, the hard reality that came with those words.

"You don't know?" Fuery, a young man with boxy glasses inquired. Roy's face fell. He nodded numbly.

"When I awoke the second time," Roy began telling the easier part of the tale, "my body was healed and whole. As if I had never been injured in my life. I don't know why, neither do the doctors. For the sake of the matter we're staying hushed about it."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"But Ed-" Roy sobbed, his strength finally failing. "He wasn't there! I'm alone!" Tears fell freely.

Havoc stood up and rushed to his commanding officer's side. He began to draw on his empathy that came with being a Sacrifice. Havoc began to cry too, being filled with a small share of Roy's immense sorrow.

"We'll find him sir!" Hawkeye, used her motherly tone, trying to help. She knew it was somewhat futile, being Havoc's Fighter Unit made it hard for her to emphasis with others beyond him.

Roy howled in agony, calling to his Other Half.

**-break-**

Edward lay on a lumpy mattress looking up at a plain ceiling. He felt an overwhelming wave sorrow and emptiness crash through his being. Edward managed to sit up and lean over the edge of the mattress in time to vomit and convulse. The tears he had choked swallowed earlier came out of his stomach and eyes.

_I'm sorry Roy!_ His mind cried.

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I decided to begin each chapter with a little bit of history about Word Pairs and their role in society. Let me know what you think of that. And let me know what you think of the rest of my story while you are at it.

Review please!


	3. Pain

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Yup, you guessed it! I don't own FMA! Or Loveless.

Other Stuff: I also plan to update A Pen or A Sword along with this one. You can have a look at it on a link through my profile. Also, I'm looking for a Beta Reader, please let me know if you are willing. Thanks.

Chapter 3: Pain

When Word Pairs first became known their names were simple, with a small amount of letters and usually one meaning. 'Bell', 'Sky', 'Fire', and 'Tone' are examples of early Names. As time passed the Names grew more and more complicated. The more complicated a Name, the more powerful the Pair was. Names like 'Eye', 'Song', and 'Love' appeared. People who bore these Names were often descendants of a Word Pair.

Word Pairs are often recorded in history by their Name, rather than their 'normal name'. The most famous of which is 'Light'. Light was a pair consisting of a man and woman who had both managed to slip through the mandatory scanning. Once they made their presence known to the military, they signed on and operated like any other Word Pair. Though was separated Light from normal Pairs was their undefeated record and the goodwill they spread by going out of their way to help others.

Many people, both Paired and normal consider Light to have been the strongest and most powerful Word Pair. Light was the Pair that set the standards by which all other Pairs are judged.

Roy had, like any other Paired person, compared himself to Light. Knowing full well that he couldn't possibly be as good a Sacrifice as Light, he hoped to be half, maybe even three-fourths as good. With all the bullying and ridicule Roy grew up with he would often childishly yell back that he was going to be the Other Half of a Fighter Unit more powerful than Light. No one believed that, not even Roy.

"I contacted Lieutenant Colonel Hughes sir." Hawkeye explained to Roy. He was sitting in his chair with a large cup of coffee in his hands and a bar of chocolate at his side. The colonel looked up at her with pain-filled eyes.

"And?" Roy took a shaky sip of his coffee.

"He just got authorization to check the birth records. He's putting five people on it, he hopes to have a lead by the end of next week at the latest." Hawkeye continued. "The Lieutenant Colonel also has an inquiry about the boy's approximate age."

Roy paused, tasting the roof of his mouth as he remembered Edward. Things like age and age difference had little meaning to between people in a Pair, so Roy didn't take much of a notice. Edward hadn't been very tall, but his eyes were old and experienced. It was hard to say just how old the boy really was.

"15 maybe?" Roy was extremely unsure. "He was short enough to have been 10, but he didn't feel 10 to me- he felt much older."

"I don't think the Lieutenant is going to be happy to hear that." Hawkeye sighed. "But there nothing to be done if no one else remembers the boy."

"What about my attackers?" Roy inquired.

"They are still in comas." Hawkeye smiled. "And I hope they suffer every moment of it." Roy let out a low whistle.

"He beat up four adults by himself, knocking them into comas. And I doubt he suffered much damage for it, well beyond me getting hurt." Roy was amazed at the sheer potential that that thought provoked.

"To be honest sir," Breda admitted from the other side of the room, "that kind of sheer power is down right scary. This kid mysteriously appears out of nowhere, lands two of our best Pairs in the Critical Care Wing, and then leaves inducing amnesia to anyone who met him along the way. That kind of shit is Light-caliber!"

Silence fell the room.

"Hey boss," Havoc began, "didn't you always say your Fighter Unit was going to be stronger than Light?"

"Only when I was a kid," Roy explained, "I never believed it."

" 'Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.' Is how the saying goes." Falman, a gray haired man mused. "Looks like you did get a wish come true. But is it the wanted blessing? Or a curse?"

"Now is not the time for that!" Roy snapped. "I've been incomplete for 30 fucking years! And when I finally get to see my Other Half he disappears! 30 fucking years is a long time to wait! And getting your soul ripped apart from you!?!"

"Calm down! Ranting is getting us nowhere! Right now we are gathering all the information we can on the situation. For all we know Edward was kidnapped and the amnesia is someone else's doing!" Hawkeye snapped reminding everyone of their place.

"I know enough as a fellow Fighter Unit to believe that Edward is unwillingly parted from your side." Her amber eyes softened in empathy. "He feels just as incomplete and alone as you do. Its unnatural to be apart from your Other Half, I'm sure he's trying to get to you, trying to be found."

**-break-**

"Looks as though Colonel Mustang has finally broke." A tall man remarked from the darkness. He was looming over Edward's unconscious form. "Its very bad style to make your Fighter Unit suffer."

"He got so upset he made the runt puke!" A woman giggled from the darkness.

"It was a careless thing to do all the same. Edward is precious, the only one of his kind." The man reached out and brushed a few bangs from Ed's eyes. The boy twitched unpleasantly and jerked away. "He needs to be better taken care of."

A door creaked open then shut with a slam. A pair of heeled shoes clicked over.

"Of course he needs to better care," the new arrival, a woman, explained, "Colonel Mustang isn't good enough."

"Ah, so how are your experiments coming along?" The man asked, sounding morbidly curious.

"With some decent success, hopefully by the end of the year I'll be ready to adjust this one's Name." She remarked absently.

"Oh, oh?" The other woman squealed. "To what?"

" 'Meaning'." The other woman smiled in the darkness.

Edward shivered in his sleep, muttering 'Roy' desperately.

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Yes for introducing the bad guys! I'm reminding y'all of my offer for a Beta. The good news is that you will get to see my updates before everyone else. Either way, drop me a review.


	4. Directionless

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: All I own is my imagination and the various things it likes to do with characters that aren't mine.

Other Stuff: Here's a shout out to Gioll, my new beta! I love you! And as a note to my reviewers, for some reason my messaging process isn't working properly. I can't receive any replies, alerts, or messages from fanfiction dot net. If you wish to contact me to get unconfused or something, use my e-mail, it is available on my author page.

Also if I told you I removed alchemy, I lied. Sorry, my original intension was to not have it here. But as of a small realization and plot bunny from the last chapter it exists in this world, just not the same way. And as a reminder this is in the time of the normal Fullmetal Alchemist series as well. That means 1910s.

Chapter 4: Directionless

Alchemy used to be the most respected and important science in Ametris. Four hundred years ago a horrific act was done with alchemy, mass murder. Some scientist, whose name has been long forgotten, sacrificed the entire city of Centraloplis (or as we call it today, 'Old Central'). What the scientist was trying to accomplish that day was never clear, but they had become too powerful. In response, both the people and the government decided that alchemy would be forbidden from that day on.

Books were burned, alchemists were hunted and tortured. It took Ametris one hundred and fifty years of violence and blood before the country was able to fully adapt to the change. Instead of turning to alchemy for solutions, the people of Ametris turned to philosophy, chemistry, physics, biology, and history. History quickly became the most important thing on an Ametrian's mind. It was because of their History that Old Central was buried. It was because of their History that New Central (or as we call it today 'Central') was built literally on top of Old Central. Every step taken in Central reminds the people of the massacre.

Most people in Ametris agree that the one most important thing to do in one's life is to go beneath the earth to see Old Central. Roy Mustang is one of those people, upon his initial arrival in Central he had asked his new guardians if he could visit the underground city. The next day Roy had found himself looking out over the immense, empty cavern. An entire city, empty. It was the most moving thing he had ever seen. He agreed that alchemy was better forgotten.

**-Dream sequence-**

Roy was wearing his blue military uniform, standing amongst the large, empty buildings of Old Central. The air was stale. As a Sacrifice Roy could sense the emotions of those around him, and right then he could sense the very earth weeping and morning the tragedy that occurred four hundred years prior ago. Carefully, Roy dropped to one knee to better feel the sorrow of the earth, of the buildings, of the air, and of the memories of the people above.

**Clack, clack!**

Footsteps! Roy was on his feet facing the source of the sound. A tall person was approaching. With this Roy opened up all his empathic senses to see if he could feel the person. They were not hostile, instead they were a little remorseful and guilty. Opening his eyes as he eased himself out of his state of heightened being, Roy took in the man. He was fairly well built, average height. He wore a long white robe that twirled about his legs as he walked. This man had a scraggly dark blond beard and long canary yellow hair. His face was covered with sharp wrinkles that are commonly associated with a hard life. He stopped about ten paces from Roy.

"I don't mean you any harm." The man spoke softly, lifting his head to reveal golden eyes. Gold like Edward's.

"I can feel that." Roy smiled gently. "I am Roy Mustang."

"Hohenhiem of the Light." The man bowed slightly. "Please, walk with me."

Roy was a little hesitant, then he remembered the name of the Fighter Unit in Light was 'Hohenhiem'. He started walking forward, soon catching up to Hohenhiem, who just matched his stride and walked alongside Roy.

"I once lived in this city." Hohenhiem rolled his head around, taking in his surroundings sadly.

"I live here now." Roy smiled. "It's changed a lot."

"You do not understand," Hohenhiem studied Roy carefully, "I meant _this_ city, the city beneath the earth."

Roy stopped, stunned.

"Surprised? Many people have lived here since the Horror. Always in secret." Hohenhiem pointed out to him. "But I guess you do have a right to be, after all I had lived here back when this city was the thriving Centraloplis. Back when it was full of life. Back before it became removed from time, became changeless."

"What?!" Roy gasped.

"I'm not alive." He sighed. "My soul was bound to this city, as a morbid joke."

Roy said something unintelligible as he was having difficulty swallowing what he was hearing.

"You share a special bond with someone of special interest to me." Hohenhiem smiled. "I'm just asking you to be gentle with him, he's very fragile and sensitive underneath that hardened exterior he likes to put up for others."

"Who are you talking about?" Roy managed to get a hold of himself enough to realize what the man was saying.

"You already know the answer where it matters most." Hohenhiem gave him a serious look. "It is time for us to part."

"Wha-" Roy was cut of by a blinding light.

**-End dream sequence-**

Roy fell out of bed.

"Dammit!" Not the best way to wake up.

Roy sighed, trying to remember the fleeting dream. It was in Old Central, there was a man. Nothing more came to his mind, Roy sighed again. It wasn't the first time he had had a dream he wanted to remember but couldn't. This morning he felt good, his heart and mind were in high sprits despite the falling out of bed.

Roy sat up and took a breath of the morning air, feeling at peace.

**Bring! Bring!**

"Okay! Hold your horses! I'm coming!" Roy grunted as he untangled himself from his sheets and made his way to his wailing phone.

"Hello?" Roy asked the person on the other end, glancing at the clock as he did so.

"Colonel, I would like to inform you that you are precisely-" Roy's eyes widened when his half awake mind finally processed the number on the clock, "-_**four hours late to work this morning!!"**_ Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye snapped through his phone.

"I-I'm s-sorry! I slept in!" He snapped at attention, praying he wouldn't be shot. If Roy's logical side had been working he would have found this a very silly thing to be thinking; Riza was probably at headquarters, which meant that she was too far away to snipe him.

" 'Slept in'!? How is that supposed to be a viable ex-" She was cut off by Havoc.

"Riza, he probably had one helluva wet dream involving him and Edward and is too embarrassed to talk about it." Jean's voice was faint in the background.

"…." Both Roy and Riza paused in unison.

"…Was it any good sir?" She asked timidly after a while.

"What?" Roy was a little confused.

"…Your wet dream sir."

"I never thought I'd hear that out of you! Pervert!" Roy slammed the phone down in disgust. It wasn't as if he hadn't ever had a wet dream before, but that wasn't even close to the topic of his dream, he know _that_ much. He decided that his office was officially full of perverts.

_Not that I would mind having a wet dream about Edward…._ Roy shuddered in pleasure, his own perverted side kicking in.

**Bri-!!** Roy picked up the phone, expecting Hawkeye to be right back. He was wrong.

"Hey Roy! Have a good wet dream this morning?" An excited male voice sang. It was the voice of Maes Hughes, Roy's best friend.

"…Do I get any sort of personal life?" Roy glared the bulge in his boxers. All this talk about a wet dream was going to induce one, that Roy was certain.

"Nope! Falman blamed your late behavior on a wet dream. Most Pairs get 'em after meeting up with their Other Half. That is if they aren't going at it like monkeys." Hughes explained.

"I am surrounded by perverts!" Roy groaned.

"Maybe, I don't think Edward is a pervert… yet…." Hughes snickered at his own joke.

"Very funny!" Roy snorted back. "Why did you call?"

"My daughter's going to be three soon!" Hughes announced.

"Hughes!" Roy snapped. "What's the real reason!?"

"You don't love her?" Hughes sounded upset and tearful.

"Yes, I do, just not every second of everyday!" Roy snapped again, growling.

"You should!" Hughes snapped back childishly. "Anyways, we haven't gotten a lead on the Edward issue."

"Well you've been looking into this all of a day, that's not surprising." Roy rolled his eyes.

"No Roy, it is." Hughes was deadly serious. "There is no surname 'Elric' on record. Anywhere."

"What!?" Roy gasped. "But he can't lie to me!"

"No, he can't." Hughes confirmed. "Fighter Units and Sacrifices are incapable of lying to one another, this is a known fact. It's the fact that there is no 'Elric' anywhere on record that is scary. It's really hard to be born in this country and not have at least a birth certificate!" The man was frustrated.

"Surely there's another Elric on record?" Roy asked.

"No, the family name simply doesn't exist. That's what worries me most, his entire paternal line has no trace or existence in this country…." Hughes went silent.

"Which means?" Roy asked, afraid.

"My best guess is that he's an illegal immigrant of some kind. But his physical appearance is distinctly Ametrian, which leads us nowhere." Hughes sighed.

"So there's nothing on him. At all." Roy felt a little panicked.

"I'll be honest Roy," Hughes sighed again, "Edward Elric might _not_ exist."

"But-!" Roy cried, desperate.

"But I'm sticking by you and Jean's instincts. He told me that he honestly believes this kid exists, as much of an enigma he is." Hughes had an unseen smile at the other end. "And Jean told me your actions yesterday were that of a loyal Sacrifice, I trust him to know what that means too."

"So where now?" Roy asked his friend, weary.

"Nowhere, we're directionless at the moment." Hughes sighed again. "Unless you have an idea."

"I have a feeling I haven't seen the last of him." Roy replied honestly.

"Good, because I have that same hunch." Both men smiled.

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Ah, my lovely dream sequence! Do you like? Does this chapter's explanation help?

Tell me what you think! Drop me a review!


	5. History

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own only my imagination, so please don't sue me.

Other Stuff: I'm sorry the updates are taking a little longer, having a beta look things over does add time. But the good news is that it will be a lot more readable. Here's your next installment.

Chapter 5: History

Ametris has a strict education program for those who are Paired. It is a rigid set up, with little allowance for exceptions or failures. Paired children are taken from their homes and families, no exceptions, to a training facility. The children are then separated by gender, relative age, and Part into dormitories where they spend the next five years of their lives. They are pitted constantly against their peers in a survival of the fittest.

A Sacrifice is literally tortured, the more pain they can withstand and bear, the better a job they do. Sacrifices are taught strategy and tactics, spending as much time in the classroom as they do getting tortured. Depending on how well a Sacrifice fares, they may be subjected to drugs and poisons to increase their toughness and ability to hold a level head when not at 100 percent.

Towards the end of their training a Sacrifice is sat down with a professional psychiatrist, who then teaches them the art of emotions, empathy, and reading others. Most Sacrifices, should they have not been destroyed by the program, can read people well enough to pick up on emotional weakness at a glance. They are also then taught the ways of mental torture, having it first inflicted on them, then learning to inflict it on others.

After the first five years are complete, the Sacrifice and Fighter Unit are usually introduced. If there is an age gap and one of them is still within their first five years, the Part that finished first is told of this and undergoes extra training. Should there not be a match, the Unpaired child is not told anything and undergoes the extra training. This training can take up to ten more years. If they reach this point they are officially graduated and told that their Other Half is nowhere to be found.

There have been four recorded cases of children graduating from the 15 year program without a pair. Roy Mustang is the fourth one. As much as he had been taught and understood about his job and place as a Sacrifice, he knew nothing of how to survive in the real world. Which is where the program unceremoniously dumped him, they gave him a job and a place to stay, but not much else.

Roy spent his first day on his own getting lost in Central. He had spent all of his childhood in an isolated bunker waiting for someone who never showed up. All the sights and going-ons had been a complete sensory overload for the young Mustang. Eventually he found himself at a bar where he saw a man in a blue uniform. It was the same military uniform that the adults around Roy had worn all his childhood, the same one he would soon be issued one of. It was something familiar, though the person wearing it wasn't. After having just been scared shitless by the big city and real world, Roy latched onto the man in the uniform, the one familiar thing, and began to cry.

The man wearing the uniform was Maes Hughes, a newly enlisted man in Investigations.

Roy smiled remembering what Maes had done afterwards. He had taken Roy to his apartment and sat Roy down and talked with a large glass of brandy. Roy's training made him, for all intents and purposes, immune to alcohol (he could drink it as if it was water all day and wouldn't get drunk). It was a short story, as Roy wasn't really one to elaborate terrible experiences onto others (especially since his training told him it was his job to bare these burdens).

Maes had been an average citizen, with a normal childhood. Hearing the entire tragic story of a Part's childhood moved him to tears. It also opened his eyes and drove home the lesson 'nothing is as it seems' to young Maes. He later blamed his success on Roy's enlightening story.

When Roy arrived at work the first person he went to see was Maes.

"Hughes!" Roy gasped, smacking his forehead at the sight that greeted him. Maes had put up a 'hall of the best of my beautiful angel' in his office.

"Do you like it!? Isn't she the cutest!?" Hughes smiled and swooned over the pictures.

"Sometimes I wonder just how serious you are…." Roy sweatdropped and turned a little blue.

"So, what brings you here? Besides Elicia." Maes was dancing, his glasses flashing from the glare.

"I know this may be somewhat pointless, but did you check the Paired records for an 'Elric'?" Roy asked his friend as he helped himself to a seat.

"I did just now." Maes sat down at his desk. "Look at it yourself." He handed Roy a small stack of papers.

Roy's onyx eyes scanned it. They widened.

"There is an Elric!" He gasped then read the name next to it. " 'Hohenhiem'?!"

"Yeah, the only other place Elric appears on record is the Pairing record for Light." Maes took off his glasses and cleaned them. His yellow eyes attempted to read Roy. Putting his glasses back on helped this effort.

"Are they related?" Roy whispered.

"Entirely possible, we don't know _anything_ about Light's origins, or what happened after they disappeared all those years ago." Maes was thoughtful.

"Looks like I got what I wanted," Roy sighed, "even when I wasn't really asking."

"I'm not reporting this to the higher ups." Maes told him seriously. "I think it would cause far too much of a stir."

"Thank you Hughes." Roy smiled.

"And I have another present for you," Maes picked up another piece of paper, "took forever to find, but I got it."

Roy took the paper. It was his birth certificate, stating the names of his parents on it. Roy gasped, having forgotten asking Maes to help him find his parents ten years ago, just after they met at the bar.

"-And here is their address and number." Maes handed him a little note sheet. "If you can't be with your Other Half, you can at least be reunited with your kin."

"Thank you!" Roy started crying in joy.

**-break-**

Edward awoke smiling. He felt really happy, relieved, and excited all at once. Something good had happened to him. But the smile turned to a frown when the logical part of the boy's mind kicked in. What the heck did he have to be happy about in his life? Roy and his family, both of which he was denied. He glared at the ceiling of the room, still feeling good, growing grumpy and upset at the same time for not knowing why.

"Edward my child!" A woman beside him squealed. "You're awake!" Edward jerked away from her and grew fearful, this fear overriding his happiness.

"My baby boy, won't you come to me? I'm your mama!" Two slender hands poked out of the shadows, opened as if asking for a hug. Edward glared at the woman and snapped at her.

"Don't you love your mama?" The woman sounded hurt. Edward kicked at her.

"Now Edward!" She admonished him. "Come here and cuddle and you might get to go outside today." Everything about Edward lit up at the word 'outside'. He swallowed the lump in his throat and approached her, weary and fearful.

When he got close enough, she viciously grabbed him by his shoulder and hair and yanked him to her chest. She squeezed him tightly as she clawed (or as she would have called it 'petting') him.

"That's my boy, such a good boy." She purred to him as she continued to scratch and all but smoother him.

Edward shut his eyes and tried to imagine he was in Roy's arms being caressed and petted properly. He tried to remember the feel of Roy's lips against his own. But with each scratch and tug, Edward's resolve crumbled a little more.

This was not the worst, this was only the beginning, Edward knew this and it saddened him. It always started like this and got worse. Always.

**-break-**

Roy was walking back to his office when he was struck with a heavy pain in his chest. Onyx eyes widened in realization.

_We're connected!_

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Yay for angsty pasts! Like, don't, or have something else to say? Drop a review!

(Quick note added by Gioll: Hey all, sorry this is late, entirely my fault. I've had a bit of work to catch up on. Preventing me finishing anything else. Sorry all!)


	6. Origins

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Logically the fact that I am an unemployed American woman means I can't possibly own FMA or Loveless.

Other Stuff: Mid terms suck. Need I say more?

Chapter 6: Origins

When a Part is discovered and taken from their family, it is typically the last they see of one another. A Part usually finishes their first five years of training and is then introduced to their Other Half. From there the pair undergoes more training, now living together constantly. After ten years more training they are allowed to be released into the world as servants of the military. Due to the intensity and traumatic experiences of the program, most Pairs forget their previous lives. This forgetting removes any desire to contact their families.

Roy, having undergone the inhumane training and survived despite having no one by his side, vaguely remembered his parents. The main reason for remembering them was to remember that at one point in time, he was loved. The most vivid memory of his parents was them yelling and screaming as they demanded the military return him to them. He had been literally ripped out of the arms of his mother.

Unfortunately for Roy his position in the military and the fact he was a Sacrifice made it extremely difficult for him to gain access to the records that would lead him back to his origins. That's why Roy had turned to Maes, who did have that kind of access. Neither had realized just how little access Maes would have, it took getting promoted to Lieutenant Colonel before Maes could get access to birth records without a special circumstance permit. Finding the birth records for a Part was even more difficult as the military decided they were to be kept secret.

Getting free range to look at all birth records in search of the Other Half of Fullflame had been the excuse he needed to find Roy's records. After finding the names of his parents, checking the tax records for their address and contact information had been a synch. Maes took a good bit of pride in the fact that he had helped his friend.

By far the biggest comfort from the entire experience was to find out that Roy's name was indeed Roy Mustang. Some Parts have their names changed during or before training, but that is a rare occurrence.

Currently, Roy was wishing that he felt as excited and happy about this as he had moments before. Before something happened to Edward that had upset the boy greatly. Paired people always share an emotional connection, but the Sacrifice has complete control of it. A Sacrifice can decide what a Fighter Unit is feeling at any given moment, even if it is against their wishes or inappropriate. If a Fighter Unit is under great emotional stress, the Sacrifice feels that same emotion deeply within themselves. Usually at this point it would be a Sacrifice's place to then rectify the intense emotion.

Roy took a long deep breath and began to practice an exercise he had learned about the theory of during his training, but never practiced. He thought of Edward and reached out to the boy, stretching his sprit from his body so he could comfort his Other Half. It took a long, hard while, but Roy successfully touched the emotional conscious of his Partner. It was in turmoil and suffering.

_Don't worry, I'm here now…._ Roy warped his 'arms' around it and began to sooth and warm the conscious. It responded by growing happier and more ordered. Roy gave it a final 'ruffle of the hair' before he parted and returned to himself.

"Aw shit!" Roy fell forward, exhausted. He passed out in the middle of Headquarters. Fortunately, his unconscious body was found by Master Sergeant Kain Fuery, one of Roy's loyal subordinates. The Colonel was carried back to his office and laid down on the couch in there. First Lieutenant Jean Havoc began doing the very typical fretting of a Sacrifice. Hawkeye held fast and keep the office working while Roy was unconscious.

After about an hour he awoke, feeling heavy and tried.

"Did I miss anything?" Roy hadn't even opened his eyes.

"Not that we couldn't handle sir." Hawkeye assured him. "But we do need you somewhat operational today."

"Of course." Roy sat up, yawned and rubbed his eyes. "That was more work than I thought it'd be…."

"What do you mean?" Havoc asked eyeing his superior carefully.

"Edward needed some emotional sorting, took a lot out of me…." Roy smiled pleased with his good work.

"Well shit! It's a miracle you didn't kill yourself!" Havoc smacked the back of Roy's head. "You know that's an _advanced_ maneuver! You two are not Bonded enough to be trying shit like that!"

"But he was hurting here!" Roy put his hand over his heart. "And I couldn't leave him like that!"

Havoc moaned and flopped back into his chair.

"Colonel by chance did you-" Hawkeye cut herself off.

"What?" Roy cocked his head, curious.

"You haven't preformed that maneuver enough to know how far away he physically is." Hawkeye explained. "If you do it enough you can learn to use it as a way to find the other."

"He's pretty damn far away." Roy explained. "I know it took a lot of effort to move a very little distance, but I did cover a lot of it to get of him."

"There's a difference between 'distance' and 'interference'." Hawkeye eyed him. "Besides that is the first time you've done that, what the heck are you trying to judge it by?"

"You win this one." Roy sighed in defeat.

"I don't fight battles I can't win sir." Hawkeye smiled.

"Well back to the issue at hand," Roy glanced at the telephone, "Hughes found me something important."

"Ed's number?" Breda asked, knowing that wasn't it.

"No, Ed's jock strap size." Havoc nodded, more satisfied with his idea.

"As much as I desire to know those things, it wasn't one of them." Roy sighed. "No, it was my parents' names, number, and address."

"Parents!" Hawkeye and Havoc gasped, having all but forgotten they even had any. Both went quiet and thoughtful.

"Well, if I can't be with Ed, I can at least see them one more time right?" Roy smiled. Havoc stood up and walked to the door.

"Boss, do you mind waiting while I ask Hughes a favor myself?" Havoc looked determined.

"Not at all." Roy nodded.

**-A little later-**

Havoc returned with Maes in tow. All the members of the office had gathered around Roy and phone, waiting patiently.

Roy took one deep breath, picked up the receiver and dialed.

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Cliffhanger, just for you! Review and I'll have more ready quicker!


	7. Home

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own anything of real value in this world, please don't sue me.

Other Stuff: I feel a little lonely as I got no reviews last time. Could someone drop me one?

Chapter 7: Home

Originally the training of Pairs was not inhumane. It was more like a special boarding school that provided a well-rounded education with some extra time spent on the abilities of the Pairs. However, 70 years ago Amestris had a particularly nasty border conflict with Creta. To end this conflict quickly they called in Pairs to fight. Because of the remarkable and astounding success, the training program was revamped. In what seemed to be an overnight change, the program grew fierce and inhumane.

The aim of the new program was to eliminate all the weak Pairs and transform the remaining ones into human weapons. For the most part, it was a success. Within a few weeks of this change the parents of the Pairs had caught wind of the torture their children were being subjected to. Soon protests and riots began to flare up around the training facilities.

It was then the military built private and secure facilities. And with the relocation of children, all parental contact was severed. Since then the military made it a policy to prevent Pairs from contacting their parents in a fear of both the truth of the inhumanity being revealed and riots.

And with each ring of the phone, Roy was breaking another of those rules.

**"…Hello?" **The voice of a tired, old woman answered. Roy let out the breath he had been holding and took another.

"Good day ma'am." Roy reminded himself to keep his words simple thus hiding his nervousness.

**"To who am I speaking?"** The woman asked, sounding impatient.

"Roy Must-" Roy was cut off.

_**" 'Roy'!?"**_ The woman gasped.

"Roy Mustang ma'am." Roy decided to finish. "I've been trying to get a hold of this number for years and-"

**"My boy! My baby boy!"** The woman sounded dazed. **"Is it really you?"**

"Yes, that is who I am." Roy assured her, using soothing tones. "I've been trying to find you, looks like I did."

**"Oh Roy!"** The woman gasped. **"Do you remember me?"** She sounded desperate. Roy shut his eyes and tried to remember the voice. The sound of song from lullabies once forgotten filled his ears. It was true, Roy Mustang knew her voice.

"Mummy, you're my mummy." He spoke softly, a small smile playing his lips. "I've never forgotten you."

**"Oh Roy! What did they do to you? Why couldn't we see you? Why-"** Roy cut his mother off.

"I'll explain in person when I come home." Roy promised her. "I'm planning on doing that soon, when is the best time?"

**"Any love, any."** His mother assured him.

**-break-**

Long, blond strands lay cast about the white pillow giving its owner an angelic aura. Upon the soft, silk sheets lay Edward Elric, naked and pure for all to see. His golden eyes were shut, a small smile rested picturesquely on his face. The entire bed was lit by sunlight creating a surreal holy ground in the black room. Gently the boy's chest raised and fell with each breath. His right hand lay just beneath his Name, as if he was embracing it.

"So pure…." Cooed a slick, male voice from a corner of the room. Edward's face stirred, then relaxed back into the smile.

A near silent padding of naked feet approached the sleeping boy. Into the strong sunlight stepped a lean figure of a person, their eyes shut. His dark emerald locks of hair fell past his waist; carefully tied back by a single red bow. His skin was deadly pale, barely contrasting with the sheets on the bed. He wore a skin tight top that barely covered his upper torso and left his strongly scrupled abdominal muscles for all to see. He wore what appeared to be a short skirt around his wait. On his narrow forearms rested two fingerless black gloves. To finish the effect he wore black toeless and heelless socks.

This man tenderly reached down and brushed a stray strand of blond hair from the sleeping face.

"I know you can't hear me…." The man whispered gently in the boy's ear. "But I have to tell you, despite being imperfect, I still love you brother." He carefully opened his violet eyes to gaze lovingly upon Edward.

"Promise me, that even when you are united with your Other Half, that there will still be room in your heart for me…."

Edward stirred in his sleep and nodded a little, smiling even brighter now.

"Thank you." And with that the man slipped out of the room.

**-break-**

"Why did he fall asleep!?" A woman sternly snapped at another figure in the shadows.

"I don't know!" The other woman cried back. "He relaxed, smiled and just fell asleep!"

"He never relaxes when you hold him!" The first woman pointed out.

"I know!"

"Calm down." A male voice injected. "I have news."

"What!?" Both women snapped.

"Roy Mustang and Edward are connected. The man passed out in the hallway from exhaustion comforting his Fighter Unit." The man continued.

"That makes my work complicated. How the hell did their Bond take root!?" The first woman spat. "I specifically separated them and took extra precautions to keep Edward pure!"

"It wasn't enough it appears." The man sighed. "I think we have a traitor."

"I'll murder them." The second woman remarked in a sing-song voice.

"All in good time, my love," The first woman reminded her companion, "first we have to find them."

"We will…." The second woman squealed.

**-break-**

An old woman with gray hair, too many wrinkles, and onyx eyes set down the receiver of the phone. She wore a simple blue dress and work boots. Her eyes sparkled with a fire that had all but burnt out over the long years.

"Cindy Lynn! Come down here and help me make your brother's bed! He's coming home!"

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Yay for another update! I love writing this story, so please drop a review!


	8. Love

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Nope, I checked, I still own nothing.

Other Stuff: Firstly, I am so sorry about the chapter issue, it is fixed now. So please have a look at the new chapter 6. As promised here's chapter 8, just for you! I know I changed Envy's appearance a little, but he's a different character in this story so I felt it necessary for a different change. Oh! Lemon this chapter (finally!!)!

Chapter 8: Love

Amestrian history has its share of conspiracy theories and unanswered questions. The largest and most commonly gossiped about, even in this modern day, is the death of Hohenhiem of the Light. Hohenhiem had been a resident of Old Central during the era of the massacre. According to both the rumors and what little history evidence of the time Hohenhiem was without a doubt, one of the greatest alchemists of his day.

After the massacre, Hohenhiem had disappeared, leaving no corpse. At the time of his disappearance many claimed his life of one of the many taken that day. Others claimed he had been the one who did the horrible transmutation and had gone into hiding. In modern times, some people theorize that Hohenhiem, even if he had been in Old Central at the time of the massacre, that he was too good an alchemist to have gotten himself transmuted.

A must smaller portion of the theorists believe Hohenhiem had caused the transmutation, but had also sacrificed himself and did the whole thing as an act of mass suicide. More theories consist of Hohenhiem trying to stop the transmutation and in the end activating it, of him having someone else do it on his behalf, or of him dieing from some more natural cause before the massacre happened.

Then there are the rumors of his ghost being seen haunting Old Central.

To Roy these theories and rumors were a waste of time, so he never paid them much heed.

Currently the Mustang had just got off a train heading on his way back to his family. He spotted a hotel and decided he'd rent a room for the night. Within a few minutes Roy was on his hotel bed, his eyes shut and his breath even. The man was trying to fall asleep and failing miserably as his mind was a whirl of emotions. The soft padding of feet made the man go into full awareness. He sat up and opened his eyes.

"Roy…." Edward stood before him wearing his black tank top and leather pants. He was smiling, much the way children do when they find a bit of sweet candy. Ed licked his lips in anticipation.

"Ed!" Roy gasped, not expecting to see the boy before.

"I'm sorry for running out earlier." Edward explained. "I wanted you in a more… _private_ moment." The boy approached him, his tone and body pouring seducing motives and undertones. To Roy's emotional senses it was an overload.

"Oh Ed!" He found himself hard. The blond stopped at the foot of Roy's bed and eyed the erection with a small, satisfied grin.

"Want to see?" Edward ran his hand over his clothed body suggestively.

"Yes." Roy licked his lips, just about to drool. Edward pulled his tank top off, slowly and playfully. He spent a painfully long amount of time removing his belt and undoing his pants.

"Seeing you so hard and ready…," Edward began as he slide one hand into his pants, "oh does it make me _want."_

"I want you Edward. I want you now." Roy got out from beneath his sheets, pulling off his pants and boxers, leaving his naked body for Ed to see.

"Oh God Roy!" Ed moaned as he found himself turned on by the sight. In pure lust and impatience Edward ripped off his pants and climbed on the bed, his own penis erect and sensitive.

"You're beautiful." Roy observed, timidly touching his Other Half. Both shivered at the contact.

"So are you…." Edward leaned forward and kissed Roy happily. This kiss was less awkward and more passionate. Roy found himself moaning when he stuck his tongue into Ed's mouth and took in the boy's taste. He tasted like cinnamon, it was a good feeling. Edward carefully kept his Name from touching Roy, but he often got it close. Soon they parted for breath.

"I want to try something…." Ed panted, his slight exhaustion making him look heavenly.

"Anything you want…." Roy licked his lips, enjoying the remains of Edward on his lips. The boy quickly clambered behind Roy.

"Hmm?" Roy leaned his head back and looked into those deep, golden eyes.

"Watch this." Edward kissed Roy's forehead then gently, pushed it back to face forward. There was a pause. Then Edward touched his Name to Roy's. Both shook with the sudden pleasure, screeching each other's name as they rolled into orgasms.

"Oh God! Oh! Edward!" Roy screamed as after his first orgasm wound down another started right up. Edward moaned and squeaked in pleasure as he realized his seed onto Roy's back for the second time. With a shiver and jerk, Roy pulled forward, unable to withstand the pleasure. He collapsed onto the bed.

"Edward…." Onyx eyes looked up at the half shut gold ones.

"Roy…." The blond fell beside his lover. Soon both found themselves laughing, out of happiness and joy.

"Don't leave me!" Roy whispered, his voice horse, as he grabbed Edward desperately.

"Never." Ed assured him, then leaned forward to kiss Roy again. They both enjoyed it.

"Roy, take me." Edward asked, being extra needy.

"Yes." Roy promised him. He began to kiss his lover, planting love bites on the blond's sensitive neck. Edward moaned, urging Roy on. The man continued to kiss until he reached one of the boy's hard nipples. Breathing teasingly on it made Ed yell out in _want. _Roy smirked then bite the appendage, sucking and pulling all the while. His right hand reached over and ran a finger over Ed's Name. Both shivered, getting harder and hotter.

Fingers soon pinched the neglected nipple and began their play.

"Oh God Roy!" Ed screamed, his hands grabbing the man's soft hair. Another loud moan escaped the blond. Roy continued to grin, happy to please his love. Letting go with both his hand and his mouth, he sat back a little to study the boy he loved.

Edward was panting, his gold eyes half open and his entire body squirming in impatience.

"Roy!" The boy snapped warningly.

"Just admiring my favorite thing." Roy chuckled then restarted his trail of kisses. When he reached the boy's naval he licked it and swirled his tongue inside making the boy groan. But with all the pent up lust and desire in Roy he chose to stop tarrying and moved right to the boy's manhood.

"Nice size." Roy smiled, running the tip of his tongue over the top of the hard appendage.

"Roy!" Edward cried his arms pulling, trying to bring Roy's head closer to his need. Roy resisted and began to kiss agonizingly around the base of the member. Ed moaned again. Roy moved down further, parting the boy's legs. Ed shivered as he felt a tongue touch his most sensitive and private places.

"More…." Ed managed to sputter. It was then Roy found the boy's hole. With a quick hungry lick of the lips Roy parted Ed's legs a little more and stuck his tongue inside. It was a tight fit, but Roy had plans for that. Ed gasped feeling the strange, foreign sensation of something inside him besides himself.

"Ahh!" Ed's back arched as he came to, pouring all over his stomach. Roy removed his tongue with a grin.

"You taste g-g-goood!" Roy sputtered as Ed's leg ran itself along his aching member.

"Let me help with that." Ed smile as he got hard again. The boy leaned forward, his hair falling around his face. Unexpectedly, Roy found his manhood being enveloped in the wet clothing that was Ed's mouth. With two sharp jerks of his head, Ed made Roy come to, screaming his love's name all the while. Edward swallowed all of Roy's seed.

"You taste good." Ed kissed his lover showing him what he tasted like.

"I'm not done with you!" Roy gasped, now pretty damn tried.

"No you are." Ed remarked his face still full of lust, but his voice not quiet right.

"Ed?" Roy asked, confused.

"Roy, wake up!" Ed told him again.

**-end dream sequence-**

Maes smacked his friend, waking him up. "Sheesh! You need to shower. And be quick, we've got another train to catch!"

"Dammit!" Roy yelled, his bed and body covered with semen from a really good wet dream.

"It looks like it was a nice one, eh?" Maes chuckled.

"Shut up!" Roy found out that he was still hard.

"No offense or anything but you are the most hilarious person to watch in the mornings." Maes stiffled laughter as Roy bumped his throbbing member into something on accident making the man hiss.

"Just shut up Hughes!"

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Poor Roy, he didn't get to take Ed's virginity. There's always a next time. In the meantime, drop me a review.


	9. Past

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own nothing…. Now I'm going to go and cry because I want to but can't.

Other Stuff: Roy had a nice wet dream, hmm about three orgasms? Amazing he didn't wake up earlier. Well after having a pretty Roy centric series of chapters we're going to switch gears and have a look at our little blond.

Chapter 9: Past

All systems have defects, loopholes, and weaknesses. The system to weed out Pairs was no exception. For the most part the searching was done through schools, doctors, or tax collectors to find the children at five years of age. Of course, the military paid these institutions well and gave them tax breaks for cooperating.

The only way children were missed regularly was if they were orphaned on the street. Even then there were regular street checks. Occasionally a family would have identified a Paired member within itself before the scanners could come through and send that child into hiding. However when the child's disappearance is noted, the military searches for it, threatening the family and causing general mayhem in whatever town this event happened to have taken place.

Edward had slipped through the cracks, not having a birth certificate or any record of your paternal line helped with this more than a little bit. Edward knew he had slipped through the cracks, for which he would always be thankful. But when the military did find him… he found himself wishing he'd been scanned.

Edward awoke the next morning in a very, very wet bed. He had had a nice dream where he could speak to Roy and tell him how much he desired the Other. But like all dreams it was a fantasy, and a fleeting one at that. Edward sighed, rubbing his face in the morning grogginess.

"Hey pipsqueak!" Called a mocking voice from the far side of the dark room. "Time to rise and shine!"

Edward blinked a few times when the lights came on. His face contorted in displeasure a little afterwards, not liking the blinding light. The black haired man came over and sat down on the bed beside Edward.

"Wet dream, hmm?" The man mocked him again. Edward shrugged.

"They found out you're connected with him." The man remarked with a sigh. "With the act we put up, I doubt they'll point a finger at me, but you never know…."

"William!" Edward gasped, sounding upset and worried. Violet eyes lazily traced their way over to meet the golden ones.

"Don't worry, I'll figure out a way to get out of this…." Edward didn't look convinced. "Well the good news is that I had a chat with my old man today!"

Edward cocked his head, curious.

"Yeah, he's been watching what Master's been doing. He thinks he can develop a counter circle so that you'd be safe." William smiled and ruffled Ed's hair.

Edward gave him a quick hug, with a big happy smile across his face.

"In other news, Colonel Roy Mustang and his friend Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes left to go and seek out Roy's long lost kin." William remarked in a sing-song voice. Ed looked livid with anger.

With a hard and desperate squeeze of William's elbow Ed cast his glare upward, almost as if he was cursing something.

"Ilandere did some checking up on the Mustang family, it turns out they had had contact with your folks at some point." William looked a little bored, though inside he was wondering what had made Edward so upset. Was it the fact that Roy was going further away? Was it Maes Hughes being near Roy? Or was it the fact that Roy was going to see his family?

#Ed blinked his rage calming into curiosity.

"There's a chance he'll be able to find your folks, wherever they went." William gazed up to the ceiling, thoughtful.

Edward nodded, excited.

"Well its time for the usual act. I'm sorry that it hurts, but if you didn't get hurt, then I wouldn't have done my job…." William and Ed met sorrowful gazes. Within a second the seemingly calm and peaceful William cracked and became something inhuman and psychotic.

"Come here, my precious!" William leaned towards Edward like a predator, full of malice. Edward backed away and grew fearful. A split second later William pounced and grabbed a fist full of Ed's hair. With his new grip on the blond, William pulled himself to his feet, holding Edward out at arm's length by his hair. A quick flick of the wrist and Edward crashed painfully onto the floor.

"Pipsqueak! Where's your fight?!" William mocked. The door to the room opened as William jumped and landed bodily onto Edward, crushing the boy a little.

"Envy." The voice of a stern woman addressed William. Will looked up at her with his violent, violet eyes. The woman was old with a kind grandmotherly appearance. She opened her green eyes to reveal they were old and all knowing in a seemingly unnatural way. William hissed, spat on Edward and got off him.

"Can I not leave you unattended with him at all?" She sounded bored and unamused.

"He has His blood. That makes it disgusting." William spat.

"Edward is not an 'it' as much as you would like to think that." The woman shook her head.

"Of course Master." Envy rolled his eyes.

"You aren't to kill him, despite this connection…." She bent down next to Edward's mangled form and pulled his head straight to look into his eyes.

"It is but a minor set back." She told Edward. "Do not think you've outsmarted me just because you managed to touch Mustang once. You will never do that again."

Edward's eyes were full of defiance. He weakly managed to spit on her face.

"Your fight earns you nothing, you will be mine." She slapped him once, as if to pound that into the boy, then stood tall. She looked at William and nodded. He walked over and swung Ed over his shoulder, following his Master like a good dog out the door.

Edward shut his eyes and forced himself to remember a better time.

**-Flashback-**

_"Edward come back here!" A woman with chestnut hair and a motherly face called from her front porch. She had kind, green eyes, and an expression of minor annoyance. Soon a little boy with a head of blond hair and gold eyes came running up to her, his entire being shinning with happiness. The woman bent down and caught the boy, embracing him in a gentle hug. _

_"Trisha?" Called a voice from inside. A man came out onto the porch. He was tall with a finely cut beard and long, dark gold hair. He had tied his hair back into a tight pony tail. Behind this man's glasses were golden eyes. He smiled and ruffled Edward's hair affectionately._

_"Alphonse hungry again?" She asked, tired. The man nodded. The woman stood up on her tip toes._

_"Take care of our son, ok?" She asked him. He smiled and nodded._

_"And you make sure your father does a good job, ok Edward?" The boy nodded enthusiastically._

**-end flashback-**

Edward was jerked out of his memories by his unceremonious dumping onto a hard, iron table. A woman with chestnut hair (though it was redder than the woman from Ed's memory) sat in a chair beside the table. She blinked her blue-green eyes, her face looking thin, and serpentine. The general shape of her body and features still held an uncanny resemblance to the woman Edward remembered.

_No matter what anyone thinks, Ilandere,_ Edward thought, his eyes full of defiance and determination, _you are not my mother. You cannot replace her. And- you- don't- look- like- her!_

Ilandere squealed happily. "My son!" She clapped her hands together, looking like she usually did, crazed.

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Whoo! A few pages of Edward past and angst! Some bad guy revealing! And cryptic conversations!! Drop me a review and tell me what you think.


	10. Family

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: My name is not on the copyright paper, I assure you.

Other Stuff: I am tying this in to my other stories a little. The Western area of Ametris is like the Southern part of the United States (if you want to learn more, read A Pen or A Sword). But this is an AU story unlike my other two so there will be some distinct differences as well as parallels. You are not required to read my other stories to get all the references, they will be explained.

Also-! I drew a fanart for this story!! It's on my homepage off my profile.

And forgive me for the lateness, my beta flaked. I'm posting without him, this chapter is self-edited.

Chapter 10: Family

Depending on where you live in Ametris, different things are held in varying amounts of cultural value. The West holds males and heritage in higher regard than say, the Central Area, which instead, cares more about independence and equality. The East values loyalty to your hometown and neighbors as well as lending a hand to those in need. The South values the individual and strength of character, things like the ability to move forward. In contrast, the North values physical strength and stamina.

In Ametris there are some universal values such as: history, respect for your elders, and education. With the different values of each region coupled with the universal values, all areas have a different culture. A well traveled person could easily experience culture shock going from one region into another.

Roy Mustang was not a well traveled person. Though he had grown up with his family out West, he barely remembered the people and culture there. All he knew was the harsh survival of the fittest culture of the training camps and Central's unique culture that was a merging of all areas at once. Maes had warned him that the West was very different than Central, but Roy was dubious.

_People are still people right?_ Roy thought to himself. _How could changing place change how they act?_

Boy was he in for it.

**"Now arriving at Clayston!!"** The conductor announced.

"This is the stop right?" Roy doubled checked with Maes as he stood up.

"Yup." Maes grabbed his suitcase, both men quickly gathered up their things and stepped out onto the platform.

Standing on the empty platform was a woman wearing in a blue dress with a pair of working boots on her feet. She also wore a scowl on her wrinkled face. Her brown hair was streaked with grey and hung around her head in a close haircut. She had sharp onyx eyes that Roy recognized from the mirror.

"Who's she?" He whispered nervously to Maes.

"I'd say your mother, but she doesn't carry herself that way, a cousin perhaps?" Maes wondered, seeing the family resemblance in the face shape and body type between his friend and the woman.

She locked eyes with Roy and marched over, her boots clacking loudly on the platform. Without warning she grabbed his chin and shoved his head from side to side to get a good look at his face. After that she let go and walked around Roy, looking him up and down. In the end she came to stand right in front of him, looking him in the eye.

"Cindy." Roy said quietly after a while, his memory faintly recognizing the behavior.

"Cindy Lynn, Roy Andrew." She corrected him with a smile. Suddenly Roy found himself in a bone crushing hug.

"Welcome 'ome!" Cindy cried. Roy returned the hug, happy.

"I'm glad to be here." He told her. Maes smiled, pulled out his infamous camera and took a picture of the reunion.

"Where 'ave you bin?" Cindy asked him, looking up a little from her hug. Roy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's a long story, I just want to get back to mummy and pa." Roy explained.

" 'Course you do!" Cindy nodded. She then eyed Maes as if he was a poisonous snake.

"Cindy Lynn, this is Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, he's in charge of investigations at Central Headquarters." Roy introduced her.

"Charmed." She remarked acidly, not even holding out her hand to be shook.

"Nice to meet you too?" Maes didn't feel all the comfortable under her gaze.

"He's the one that helped me find mummy's phone number." Roy went on. "Without his help I wouldn't have found this place."

Cindy's eyes widened, she then looked on Maes with a new respect.

"Thank you for bringin' 'im 'ome." She stepped out of the hug to bow.

"Anytime!" Maes smiled.

"Let's head back to the Big 'Ouse." Cindy grabbed both men by the wrist and led them to a truck. Soon all were piled in and Roy found himself staring at the hauntingly familiar scenery.

"So how are you two related?" Maes asked, knowing Roy may well not remember.

"Siblings." They answered. Maes nodded.

" 'Ow much do you remember?" Cindy asked, sounding a little tense.

"Not a whole lot, but sometimes seeing things helps me." Roy admitted.

"Ah." There was a tense silence. "Pa's dead."

Roy didn't say anything, it was a sensitive subject for his sister and causing her great distress. He could Feel it, and with his empathy, he couldn't help but to feel a little upset himself.

" 'E got ill, lost 'is will and died. Everyone was really upset." Cindy explained. "Mummy said 'e died because you were taken away. It's bin 'ard for everyone since…."

"I see." Roy made tight fists in his lap, feeling distressed as to what his absence caused.

"But everythin's gonna be okay now." Cindy smiled. "Your 'omecomin's all over the town."

"Er-" Roy wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Don't you remember 'ow important it is to 'ave an 'eir to the family name?" Cindy asked him, realizing just how ignorant her brother was.

"No."

"Well, it means a whole lot, just 'bout everythin' 'round these parts." Cindy nodded her head, content with her explanation.

"Okay…." Roy's eyes widened as he tried to wrap his mind around that thought. It was then they pulled into a long gravel driveway. Pecan trees lined the drive, which held two large grass fields to either side. The drive led up to a large yellow mansion, with four marble pillars up in the front. Cindy stopped the truck on the round about in front of the front door.

"We're 'ere boys." She told them and got out. The other two followed suit.

When the final car door shut, the front door opened. A large bunch of woman of varying ages poured out the front door and embraced Roy.

"Roy!" Was the general cry. Roy tried to hug as many back as he could.

"Who is everyone!?" He gasped, bewildered.

"Let your brother 'ave some space!" An old woman snapped from the porch. She had a head of white hair tied back in a no nonsense bun. Her face was covered with hard wrinkles and her onyx eyes sparkled with fire.

"Mummy!" Roy gasped, running up and embracing his mother. He held her in a hug tightly, not wanting to let her go.

"Welcome 'ome ma son." She told him, patting him on the back.

Maes just kept taking pictures.

**-an explanation and a meal later-**

Roy had finished telling everyone his life story over the course of a large feast they insisted on calling 'dinner'. Maes added his two cents whenever appropriate. Within a matter of hours, Maes had become somewhat of a town hero for bringing Roy home. Many of the neighbors had come to visit, turning out to be distant relatives, giving Roy their greetings.

In turn Roy had been introduced to all of his sisters, nieces, nephews, and his two great-nephews. It was a lot of names to know, Roy found himself overwhelmed.

"So," Janet Lane, one of the sisters, inquired, "who is your Other 'Alf?"

"Edward Elric." Roy answered.

"Elric!?" Victoria, Roy's mother, exclaimed. "My! I've met some of them."

"What!?" Roy snapped up, on the edge of his seat instantly.

"Yeah, they came through town a while back…." She began.

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And I'm going to be evil and end it there. Review! Story art on my homepage off my profile.


	11. Connections

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, nor Loveless.

Other Stuff: Wasn't that an evil cliffhanger? Well, my beta disappeared off the face of the earth, so I'm just going to be posting these, unedited, as I write them. The good news is more frequent updates, bad news, more typos.

Chapter 11: Connections

After the initial panic of the appearance of Pairs, the people of Ametris had to culturally adapt to the presence of Pairs in their society. The military attempted to use the media to control this adaptation and change. What the military wanted was for the people to accept the Pairs, and see them as advanced soldiers. The military wanted it to become an _honor_ for a family to produce a Named person.

Unfortunately for the military the media had not been all that cooperative and the campaigns they had been able to run hadn't had the intended effect. Instead the people of Ametris grew weary of Pairs, seeing them as monsters in some places (such as the South). In other places Named were seen as blessings or even heavenly figures (like the North). What threw the military off most of the cultural changes and definitions was what the West did. The West saw Named as humans, humans with powers and strange connections with another human, but human all the same. And as was typical and somewhat predictable of the West, they decided that if there was a Named person in their family, the Other Half was also apart of their family.

With Maes' and Cindy's careful teaching and explanations, Roy began to learn and understand the culture of the West. Maes, being in investigations, was well traveled and understood the culture from a perspective Roy could understand. Cindy, having grown up in the West, understood the culture from the inside. The more Roy learned of Western culture, the more he realized just how much Cindy was stepping out of line to help him.

_But then again, you're family is more important than anything. And I'm family._ Roy reminded himself as he crawled out of bed that morning. The week before his mother had remembered that the Elrics had passed through the town, raising Roy's hopes of getting a led on his Other Half.

**-flashback-**

_"They left me very specific instructions if you were to return and inquire 'bout their son." Victoria Mustang explained, she then sighed and seemed regretful. "Am not as young as Ah used to be. Ah don't remember like Ah used to. Ah will try to remember it, give me some time."_

**-end flashback-**

Needless to say, that had not been the news Roy had been hoping for. A week had passed since then, Victoria had been asking around trying to jar her memory with little success. Maes and Cindy had taken this interlude to teach Roy about the West.

"Now, you'll be commin' back 'ere." Cindy told him. "With your Other 'alf."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Roy assured her with a smile.

"I wish there is something we could do to help Mrs. Mustang…." Maes was frustrated, his knowledge and expertise were failing him.

"Well I can't 'elp the way she can," Cindy began, "but I can tell you what I remember."

"What!?" Both men sat up, dumbstruck.

**-another flashback-**

_A tall man and his wife walked into Clayston, obviously strangers. The man had a dark blond beard and long blond hair, which he had tied back into a pony tail. His wife was a tired woman, with chestnut hair and kind, but sad, green eyes. The man's eyes were hard to see as he wore large, thick glasses, but they were golden. The strange pair passed through the town, pointedly ignoring the whispers and gossip that the natives muttered in their wake._

_Eventually the couple stopped at the edge of the Mustang House drive. The man pulled out a map and a sheet of paper. The paper was old and abused, having severe creases from the repetitive folding and refolding. His wife glanced at the paper over his shoulder and nodded. She squeezed her husband's arm a little to comfort him, he gave her a nod and the two turned and walked down the drive to the Mustang House._

_Arriving at the front door, they knocked politely. Cindy, who was a few years younger, opened the door._

_"I'm Trisha Elric and this is my husband, Hohenhiem," the woman introduced herself and her husband, "we're here to see Victoria Mustang."_

_" 'Bout what?" Cindy eyed them as if they were snakes._

_"Her son." Trisha explained._

**-end of the other flashback-**

" 'Hohenhiem'!? 'Trisha'!?" Roy and Maes gasped, jumping in their seats, stunned.

"Yes, those were their names." Victoria came in, setting down a tray with sweet tea and cookies. "Ah remember now."

"By all means, continue then." Maes said quickly, stunned by this new, but probable development.

"Y'all see," Victoria pulled a sheet of abused paper out of her apron pocket, "they gave me a note with all the instructions on it, so Ah wouldn't get it wrong. Ah've bin lookin' for it, y'all see."

"What are they?" Roy asked, the suspense just about killing him.

**-yet another flashback-**

_"What 'bout ma son?" Victoria sat before her guests in the parlor. She was remarkably well collected for a widow, still wearing black in mourning of her love and son._

_Hohenhiem pulled out a small notebook and began to write in it, giving her an apologetic smile as he handed her the booklet. Victoria took it, uncertain._

_"I can't speak. I am mute. Sorry." The notebook told her. She nodded and gave Trisha a sympathetic glance. Trisha smiled._

_"It's alright. Your son's name is Roy Andrew Mustang, correct?" Trisha asked the widow._

_"Yes." Victoria nodded, still feeling a little uncomfortable._

_"His Name is Fullflame, correct?" Trisha then asked, much more serious._

_"…Yes, it was." Victoria had a little trouble remembering it as she had only heard the Name once._

_"We have a son whose Name is also Fullflame." Hohenhiem, who had been quietly writing this entire time, had handed Victoria his notebook again. Victoria's face lit up with surprise._

_"Its very complicated, but our son has been kidnapped by our family's enemy." Trisha continued. "Currently me and my husband are on the run from them."_

_"What do y'all need done?" Victoria, had decided that if her son and their son shared a Name, that these people were family. And in the West, you always helped family._

_"Right now a place for the night." Trisha decided to keep it simple._

_"We will leave first thing tomorrow morning. I need you to tell your son how to contact us." Hohenhiem explained. _

_"How do you know he will come back here?" Victoria asked, curious. Hohenhiem opened his mouth._

_"He will one day return here, knowing it is his birthplace and hometown." Hohenhiem's voice echoed, reality itself bent and warped as he spoke his words. Victoria stared at him, fearful. She was flashed another apologetic smile._

_"If my husband says it, it must be true." Trisha chuckled at some inside joke._

**-end of the yet another flashback-**

"And 'ere are the instructions. You'll be callin' a friend of theirs from their hometown our East. Tell the people there you're 'Garrett Smelt' and you're callin' about your son's scanning scheduled for next Saturday. Don't forget to ask were their office is." Victoria finished handing Roy the paper.

Roy recognized the words on the paper. It read:

I can't speak. I am mute. Sorry.We have a son whose Name is also Fullflame.

We will leave first thing tomorrow morning. I need you to tell your son how to contact us.

Here's how:

1- Call the Rockbells: 503-2045-58302, extension 49

2- Claim you are 'Garrett Smelt', you are calling about your son's scanning appointment scheduled for next Saturday

3- Ask to be reminded where their office is. 

Don't forget! You must keep this natural sounding! _**The line is tapped.**_ Do not speak of Edward!

Good Luck Roy-

-Hohenhiem Elric, Light

"Holy shit."

**-break-**

A large, glass beaker shattered against the wall after it was thrown. And old man, dressed in white robes appeared out of no where beside the mess. He crouched down, his long blond hair spilling around his eyes and face, hiding it from view.

"Must you always break my things?" The man inquired of the black haired youth in the corner.

"Why do I fucking care about that human!?" The youth demanded.

"Because you were kindest to him," the man eyed the youth, tired, "and that was enough for him to give you his love."

"I didn't ask for it!" The youth raged, picking up another object to throw.

"William." The man reminded him to stop, standing up and crossing his arms.

"Yes?" The youth calmed down and set down the object.

"Love is unconditional. He gave it to you of his own free will." The man explained to Will for what was easily the millionth time. "And over the course of time, that love wove its way into your frozen core and thawed your soul."

"I'm a homunculus! I don't have a soul!" William raged.

"No, you have a soul. A weak, feeble, warped one, but a soul all the same." The man told him.

"How do you know that!?" Will glared.

"Because William Elric, I am the one that created you all those years ago." The man reminded him.

"Humph!" Will was not happy.

"I also created the monster we call 'Dante'." The man sounded sad and disappointed.

"Or forced to call 'Master' in my case." William sighed.

"But you are not her pawn if you decide not to be." The man reminded his creation. "You have your own free will and your own family to go back to now."

"And I didn't have this before?" William asked the man.

"Yes, before Edward set you free that is." The man smiled. "Which is why you want to set him free…. Don't worry, I'll help you, my son."

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I went a page over my usual three, hope you like the extra long update!


	12. Denial

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination!

Other Stuff: Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter 12: Denial

Traditionally the Ametris Military keeps Pairs at the same rank. Because of this it is hard for Pairs to get promoted past the rank of 1st Lieutenant, as they have to earn the promotion as an individual and as a Pair simultaneously. In the rare cases were a Part goes without finding their other half, they can climb the ranks like any other standard solider.

Roy Mustang being one of the exceptions to the rule, worked hard and earned the rank 'Colonel' at an extremely young age. The announcement of Edward's existence caused an unprecedented stir in the military. Traditionally if a Part was on active duty before their Other Half graduated from the training program, the Other Half would be given the rank of their Partner. The stir was caused by the fact some _kid_ was going to be entering the military as a Colonel.

That frightened many of the members of High Command. They couldn't find an honorable way to demote Mustang, as he had a prefect track record and was a renown hero of the people. At first the High Command had been weary of Mustang's raise in the ranks, but his performance told them they needed to do nothing but reward it. After all, if they have an intelligent and capable higher ranking official in this midst for longer, it would be better for the military in the long run. Now the fears and uncertainties of earlier rose their ugly heads again, except now there was the unknown factor of Mustang's Other Half.

"We need to do something about Mustang." One of the Generals announced, his dark circles under his eyes from sleepless nights.

"And what do you propose?" The Fuhrer, King Bradley asked his subordinate. _Please say something that can help me!_ He mentally pleaded.

"We should kill him." Another General, who was known to be brash and irrational at times, suggested. "Make it look like an accident to make the masses happy."

"And this would accomplish what?" The Fuhrer asked carefully, delighted with the thought that he finally had a way to resist _that woman._

"Well, killing one Part kills the Other Half. From what I've heard about how powerful the kid is, we need to contain him." The General went on to say. "And also it defiantly takes a load off my mind. Mustang's rank has always bothered me."

"So you suggest that by assassinating Mustang, all of our problems are solved?" The Fuhrer smiled. _If Edward is dead then she'll be powerless again._

"Yes."

"Then I'm putting you in charge of it. There cannot be failure." The Fuhrer told the man. _Sorry Edward, this is the only way I can save anyone…._

**-break-**

"The only two story house in Risembol. It's yellow they said." Maes hung up the phone. Since they knew the line had been tapped Roy had asked Maes to do the actual calling. Maes had nodded, knowing full well his experience in investigations would prevent him from sounding weird or out of place on a tapped line. Roy himself was too jarred emotionally to have been able to make the call.

"Risembol?" Roy asked thoughtfully. "Ah!" He cried, his mind being filled with images.

**-vision-**

_There was a light gray house atop a grassy hill. It was a comely, tutor style home with two stories. Hanging out the window was a tall man with long blond hair and a beard. His hair was down and blowing in the wind._

_"Edward!" He yelled from his vantage point. Roy felt himself fill with joy and run towards the house._

_"Hen-hen!" He cried with a voice that was not his own._

**-end vision-**

"Roy!" Maes and Cindy were standing over him. Roy Mustang soon discovered he had been laid out on the couch.

"How long was I out?" Roy asked, a little disturbed.

"Only a minute at the most…." Cindy looked scared.

"What the hell was that?" Maes asked him, much more serious.

"I had a vision of a memory of Edward's… I think…." Roy moaned, his head now aching. "Is that supposed to happen?"

"The most strongly connected can send each other images and thoughts." Maes remarked. "But you've only touched Edward once…."

"Yes Hughes, I already know I'm in a freakier-than-shit Bonding. Tell me something new please." Roy snorted, irritated.

"Here's the map." Cindy spread it out on the table.

"Where the heck is Risembol?" Roy muttered, the map being a large detailed one.

"Somewhere out East." Maes nodded. "I recognized the accent." Sure enough Risembol was out East.

"There's a train that goes by." Cindy observed with a smile. "I'll go order y'all some tickets."

"Thanks!" Both men cried happily.

**-break-**

"Thank you mummy." Roy gave the old woman a hug. "I'll bring Edward home with me."

"Am sure you will." She told him, with a sad smile on her face. "Take care y'all."

Roy and Maes waved as their train departed taking them to Risembol.

"You know, you're mom's awfully nice buying us those tickets…." Maes smiled.

"She's doing everything she can to make sure I have a happy ending." Roy smiled. "She's a good mummy."

**-much later-**

The train came to sudden stop and a woman in a blue military uniform stepped into the cabin.

"Ladies and gentleman, I am terribly sorry for the interruption of your journey." She bowed, making her curly brown locks bounce. "I am looking for Colonel Roy Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. They are needed for an emergency situation."

Both Maes and Roy knew that in their line of work it was possible to be suddenly put onto duty if a threat were to arise near them. Both stood up, gathered their things and followed the solider off the train without word or question. The saluted them when they were off the platform, her blue eyes sparkling.

"I am Sergeant Linda Collins, please follow me." Linda introduced herself. The other two nodded and followed her out into the nearby woods.

"What is the situation, Sergeant?" Roy asked, being more than a little annoyed she hadn't begun to tell them.

"You'll understand best when you get there." She assured them, not faltering in her step at all.

Eventually the group reached a clearing where another solider was waiting. He too wore his uniform. He had blond, buzzed hair and gray eyes. He smiled when his fellow Sergeant walked up to him.

"Good morning." The man smirked. "You're in for it now, Roy-boy!" His words echoed and the space about the clearing distorted. The colors of everything inverted with the exception of the people. Roy immediately recognized the distortion as a Fighter Unit's Aura. Inside an Aura spells were amplified and only affected the people within it. Roy knew that without a Fighter Unit himself, he stood no chance against a Pair in this space.

"Shit!" He muttered. "Edward, where are you when I need you most?"

Maes could witness the changing of the colors and he could feel every hair on his body telling him to _run._ But nothing topped the feeling of dread when Roy asked Edward where the boy was.

**Bang!** The air just behind Roy exploded slightly, there was a figure standing in the smoke that had appeared. He stepped out of the dust, revealing that he was a young boy.

"We accept your disillusioned idea of a fight." The boy's golden eyes flashed, his long blond hair blowing in the slight breeze.

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Cliffhanger! Who is the kid!?


	13. Battle

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own my plotline, nothing more.

Other Stuff: Now we get to know who the kid is! And as there was a battle that came over from the next chapter I'm not giving you any history this time. Also I get all these alerts and favorites from people, yet no reviews. I'm not sure if I should be flattered or just plain annoyed.

Previously:

_"We accept your disillusioned idea of a fight."__ The boy's golden eyes flashed, his long blond hair blowing in the slight breeze._

Chapter 13: Battle

"Edward!" Roy gasped, recognizing the boy. Edward turned around and walked up to him. Slowly the boy set his hands on Roy's shoulders, pushing the man to his knees. Roy felt his Name burning and could see Ed's Name glowing beneath the shirt.

"A whole, entire burning passion, consuming our very beings," Roy and Edward recited the words speaking themselves through their lips. They brought their glowing Names together. "We are **Fullflame!"** A small burst of heat pulsed out from around the two. The other Pair growled, the Names on their triceps glowing.

"Painting a picture of your doom," they brought their Names together, "we are **Color!"**

"Edward," Roy began recognizing the questioning glace on Edward's face, "keep Hughes out of our fight."

"Definition of Battle: those who do not have Names cannot be affected by spells." Edward held out his right hand as he said this, causing a large, white glow to cover Maes. A moment later the glow was gone, but Maes felt a warm embrace around his very soul.

"What sort of nonsense is that?" The man of Color snorted. "Linda, thrash that man." Maes had a long, wicked finger pointed at him.

"Ruby red flames!" Linda cried, sending hot fire toward Maes. When the fire hit him, it did nothing, not even warm him.

"Huh, so that's what fire feels like." Maes stuck his hand in it. "I always wondered…."

"Never mind that, crush the boy and his pathetic Sacrifice!" The man ordered.

"Blue depression!" She cried, sending a blue light suddenly shinning on Roy and Edward, both starting to feel miserable.

"Edward she's just trying to get to us, we're tougher than this." Roy told him, not succumbing to the pain in his heart. "Knock it back at her, show her was _real_ suffering is."

"You are an empathic and understating Pair," Edward was smiling,"allow me to share our suffering with you." Edward put his hands onto his heart and pulled out a black ball. "Since you'll enjoy it, I'm sure." He held it out to Color, the ball leaving his hands and drifting towards them.

"What the hell? Burn it!" The man ordered.

"Emotions and ideas are concepts of the mind, they cannot be affected by physical means." Edward yawned.

"Ruby red flames!" The fire did nothing to the black ball. It continued to approach them.

"They're going to feel cornered soon, put up a defense." Roy told Edward.

"Defense, round, perfect, and grounded in the strength of the Earth itself." Edward opened his arms, as if embracing the world. Suddenly Roy and him were encased in a large, hard sphere.

"…The hell?" The man gasped, knowing that spell was one of the hardest to over come. "Paint them in depress-"

Linda's loud sob cut him off, the black ball had touched her. She fell to her knees, tears flowing from her eyes. The man rushed to her side, feeling the emotion overwhelm him.

"End this Edward." Roy told _his_ Fighter Unit, touching his hands to the boy's shoulders affectionately. Edward looked into Roy's eyes and nodded, smiling.

"Love bites." Edward grinned again. From his mouth a ghost mouth appeared. It was fanged and vicious, running towards the other Pair at an alarming rate. To Roy's horror the mouth bite them, leaving a white, glowing chain behind. Roy was familiar with these chains as they caused great deals of pain. Color moaned and twitched. With a sharp cry of agony, the aura collapsed and the world returned to normal. Maes blinked.

"Can't say I've ever done that before." Maes muttered conversationally. Roy hugged his Other Half, not wanting to let go. Edward smiled gently, happy. Soon the boy was snuggling into Roy's embrace.

"You bastards!" The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the pair. Edward gave it a bored glance.

"I wouldn't use that gun if I was you." Edward remarked casually, as if talking about the weather, his voice echoing faintly."It backfires every time _you_ pull the trigger."

"I'll kill you!" The man roared.

**Bang!**

The gun had backfired, hitting the man in the shoulder. Edward left Roy's grip and walked over to the Pair, picking them both up by the collars of their shirts.

"You cannot harm or have start anything that knowingly has the intent to harm Roy." Edward told them, his voice loud and clear. With that he threw them to the ground, spitting on them in his wake.

Roy ran over and pulled Edward back into a hug. "Don't leave me." Roy begged.

Edward slid out of his grip, tears falling down his face.

"The next time I say 'goodbye', I will be back where I was previously with all the things upon my immediate person." Edward said gently.

"No!" Roy cried.

"Goodbye." There was a loud crack and Edward vanished as if he was never there.

"So he really is Light's son." Linda muttered, stunned.

"You knew?" Roy asked.

"I'm under orders not to say any more." Linda huffed, sticking her nose up.

"You know, he said you can't hurt me, but he never said anything about me hurting you…." Roy smirked as he picked up a large stick.

--------

Oddly enough that was one of my first times writing a battle. Good, bad, or needs work? Let me know in a review.


	14. Risembol

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I claim nothing!

Other Stuff: For those that were expecting a Roy being extremely sadistic with a stick scene, I will disappoint. To make up for this I will write a bonus thing where Roy brandishes a stick later. Currently I'm working on moving the plot forward (which you will love me for later I am sure).

Chapter 14: Risembol

Fighter Units' Auras are, contrary to common rumor and gossip, not all powerful. For a start a Fighter Unit can only admit an Aura in the presence of their Sacrifice. It they attempt to admit one without their Sacrifice it usually grows too large too last and kills the Fighter Unit. An Aura is made of soul energy (the same energy an alchemist draws on for alchemy). Soul energy is the life essence of a person, using too much too fast will kill anyone. Sacrifices help and sometimes fully control the amount of energy a Fighter Unit uses for any action whether it be Aura modulation or spell casting.

An Aura does amplify spells but it also limits their shape and size. Spells cast in an Aura, must fit in the Aura and cannot have greater power than the Aura else the Aura will collapse and destroy everything inside it. Spells cast in an Aura stay inside that Aura. When the Aura is taken down, spells that had affected objects in the Aura no longer affect it. For an example, if Color were to say cast a spell that turned a bench in their Aura blue, that bench would only be blue while it was in their Aura. The moment the Aura is gone, the bench would appear as it had in the beginning.

Most Fighter Units cannot produce an Aura much bigger than their person, even with the help of their Sacrifice. Two Fighter Units can work together to create an Aura thousands of times larger than they could on their own. Traditionally to do this, they declare and accept battles of spells. An Aura generated by two Fighter Units is unique in that spells cast in that field do not stay within either Fighter Unit's Aura nor do they continue to have effect when the Aura is removed.

A normal Fighter Unit is not strong enough to cast anything but the simplest spells outside their Aura.

Roy Mustang recalled the lesson with a frown. Color was a strong Pair, they could generate an Aura big enough to encompass the entire clearing. Edward had appeared inside an Aura (something Roy had thought impossible). After that he had cast complicated and effective spells with ease. The real icing on that cake was the complicated and permanent spells Edward had cast after the battle without help of an Aura. The sheer power in Edward make Roy's head spin.

_And he's got perfect control of it too!_ Roy had always been told he would have to do some part of the control of a Fighter Unit's soul energy, his actual Fighter Unit didn't need any such help.

"That damn brat!" Joseph, the male part of Color, cursed.

"You're just being anal." Roy gave him a flat look. Maes, Roy, and Color were now sitting in a booth on a train heading towards Risembol. Because of the spell, Color was now following Roy around, somehow their leaving had an intent to hurt Roy. It was amazing how tricky and powerful the spell was.

"You're not the one with a spell on you!" Linda hissed. Neither she nor her Sacrifice were happy about this.

"Shut up all of you!" Maes snapped, irritated. "Me and Roy want some answers about Light and Edward, I know you two will not oblige us, so shut up unless you want to."

"Humph!" Linda snorted.

"Who sent you two anyways?" Roy asked.

"Fuhrer's orders." They told him, then shared a confused look, obviously not intending to tell him.

Roy and Maes stared at each other.

"Its that bad?" Roy whispered.

"They don't want a child Colonel." Linda explained.

"Nor do they want someone as powerful as Light running around unchecked." Joseph added. "Light often disobeyed orders and was out of control as far the higher ups are concerned."

"So they're afraid." Maes observed.

"Very."

**"Next stop Risembol!"** The conductor announced.

"Come on." Roy told them. "You don't have to follow me around in town, you just can't go back and report to your superiors."

"I guess." Joseph muttered as they got off the train.

Risembol was rural. There was an old, dirt road that lead away from the train station. Hills and hills of green fields stretched as far as the eye could see. Out in the distance to the east was a thick forest and a river. Roy found the entire area hauntingly familiar and comforting.

"So this is it." Roy said gently.

"Yes." Maes agreed and the two men walked down the road. Color had gone their separate way, in search of an inn with every intention of having hot sex.

After a good 15 minutes of walking down the dusty road, Roy and Maes saw the yellow two story house mentioned in the phone call. Hanging off the wall was a sign that read 'Rockbell Automail'. Roy looked up the hill, seeing the tree he remembered being by a house from his vision. But there was no house, this made Roy frown.

There was the loud barking of a dog when they got not but two steps from the front porch. A small scurrying of feet later and the door creaked open. A short, elderly woman with specials and a tight bun appeared from behind the door. She scowled at the men, brushing off her oily apron absently.

"Who are you?" She remarked bluntly, her voice full of acidic distrust.

"I'm Roy Mustang and this is-" Roy was cut off.

"Roy Mustang!?" A young boy's voice gasped from the window above. All eyes steered skyward to see a young boy with straw colored hair and bronze eyes. He blinked a few times, his entire being full of excitement.

"Hello?" Roy asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Is it true?" The woman asked, turning all eyes onto her.

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?" Roy asked, a little confused.

"Prove it." The woman told him, her eyes showing him that she still didn't trust him.

"How?" Roy couldn't help but ask.

"Look ma'am I saw his birth certificate-" Maes began.

"A paper does not define a person. How do you even know if it was even his? Couldn't it have belonged to another 'Roy Mustang'?" The woman eyed Maes, looking annoyed. "I need something more concrete than that."

"My Name is 'Fullflame'." Roy told her.

"Prove that." The woman challenged him, her eyes sparkling.

Roy took off his jacket, then his shirt, well aware that the boy above them was watching just as intently. Soon his Name was out for all to see. The woman adjusted her glasses and looked at it carefully.

"Come in." She told them and walked inside without another word.

"Winry!" The boy above yelled as he ran around the upstairs of the house. Roy and Maes exchanged looks and went inside.

"I'm Pinako Rockbell." The woman introduced herself. A young, blond girl came running down the stairs, the boy at her heels.

"This is my granddaughter Winry Rockbell," Pinako introduced her blue eyed granddaughter, "and this is Alphonse Elric."

"Elric?" Roy and Maes gasped.

"We're Hope." Winry and Alphonse told Roy and Maes.

"So, how's my brother been?" Alphonse asked conversationally.

---------

Another cliffhanger, where I leave you and Roy unbearably close to some answers! But most answers lead to more questions….


	15. Answers

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I claim nothing!

Recap: Roy arrives at the Rockbell residence where he encounters a boy claiming to 'Alphonse Elric', Edward's brother. You may want to re-read chapters 2 and 9.

Other Stuff: I'm adding a recap of the key events of the last chapter or two depending how relevant something is. I may remind you to re-read stuff in previous chapters long past in the recap. This is to help you, my readers, with keeping the various storylines separate and flowing. Some long waited answers will appear in this chapter, which only lead to complicating the situation.

Chapter 15: Answers

At the time of the Massacre of Centraloplis, Risembol was not within the country's borders. About 150 years after that time there was a vicious war with Ishbal, leading to a large gain of land for Amestris. Risembol was part of this land people later called 'the East'. Fifty years later, when the train tracks were being built, Risembol was the town chosen to house the station for itself and the thirty some odd smaller surrounding communities.

The government of Amestris keeps track of the amount of building in an area, who owns them, and their approximate value. In Risembol if one were to go outside and count the amount of buildings in the town you would get eighty-four. Only eighty-three of those are accounted for in the records at Central. The small military outpost that managed Risembol and surrounding areas had records for the eighty-fourth building. They proclaimed in the old, nearly forgotten language of ancient Ishbalan, that the house belonged to a Maxim Elric. In fact the house still belonged to him and his descendants as his will (also housed in the outpost) clearly states (also in ancient Ishbalan) that the house will belong to those who carry the surname 'Elric'.

Four years ago the eighty-fourth house disappeared, as if it had never been there. The natives never speak of it, in fact they ignore that it happened at all and dismiss any traveler that insists there had once been a building there. That is, unless the traveler is the one they wait patiently for, then that person alone is allowed to know about the disappearance of the eighty-fourth building.

Roy Mustang, unknowingly, was that person.

"Brother!?" Roy gasped staring at the bronze-eyed boy. The logical part of Roy's mind realized that Al did bear enough of a resemblance to Edward for the 'brother' statement to seem feasible.

"Uh-huh!" Alphonse nodded enthusiastically. Winry started giggling, finding herself excited too. It was around then that Roy's senses identified Al as a fellow Sacrifice and Winry as a Fighter Unit. Neither was hostile and both were honestly excited to meet him.

"Then you can tell me where Ed is!" Roy exclaimed, feeling happy himself. Al frowned and shook his head.

"I don't know what happened after he was taken away." The bronze-eyed boy looked somber and thoughtful. "I hoped you would tell me."

"I-" Roy's words caught in his throat.

"Why aren't there any 'Elric's on record?" Maes asked the boy.

"I can't tell you that." Al told Maes back. "It doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it doesn't!" Maes growled. He opened his mouth to rant but Roy cut him off.

"No Maes." Roy looked at his friend. "This is a complicated and serious matter; I think it would be best if it was discussed in private."

"Roy…." Maes knew he wouldn't get any information from Alphonse, the boy's stubborn eyes told him that much. "Be careful."

"I will." Roy assured his friend and stood up. "Alphonse, would you mind walking with me?"

"Not at all." Al nodded. He turned to Winry and gave her a kiss on the lips. "We'll be right back." Winry nodded and let Al and Roy leave.

"This way." Alphonse started up towards the hill that Roy swore a house had been before.

"Wasn't there a house here?" Roy asked.

"There is a house here." Alphonse explained cryptically.

"Why can't I see it?"

"Because Dad spelled it." Al smiled. "He spelled a lot of things before he and mom jumped town." Roy stopped.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Have you heard of Hohenheim of the Light?" Al asked.

"Yes, who hasn't?" Roy rolled his eyes.

"Hohenheim of the Light is my ancestor." Alphonse stated. "He didn't directly cause the Massacre of Old Central. You see, his apprentice, Dante, did."

"His apprentice?" Roy looked at Al, a little confused as to how such an old story had anything to do with modern times.

"Well, Hohenheim had had a legit wife who died giving birth to their son, Maxim. When Hohenheim took Dante on as an apprentice he had Maxim leave the country and move out here to Risembol. This was because he wanted Maxim a chance to be out of his shadow, and more importantly, away from Dante so that they wouldn't get involved romantically."

"Isn't Dante a boy's name?" Roy was confused. 

"This Dante is a woman." Al explained flatly. "She's a very manipulative one, you see, she convinced Hohenheim to attempt the forbidden: human transmutation."

"What's that?" Roy knew nothing of alchemy.

"It's the act to trying to resurrect someone with alchemy." Al stated simply. "He created a homunculus, a made human. But it didn't resemble a human and it didn't have a soul. So he wanted to make a Philosopher's Stone to give it a soul. He stopped pursuing it when he found out the key ingredient."

"Key ingredient?" Roy whispered, sensing the subject made Alphonse queasy.

"Human beings. Hundreds of thousands of living, breathing human beings." Al looked to the sky. "Hohenheim stopped, but Dante did not. She saw the Philosopher's Stone as a key to immortality, a way to become infinitely more powerful. And so she caused the Massacre to create a Philosopher's stone."

Roy stopped again and stared at Alphonse, feeling horrified.

"Hohenheim had been in the town over, burying his father with his son. They saw the transmutation light up the sky and ran over to see what had happened. In the middle of the city was Dante and her Philosopher's Stone. Hohenheim told Maxim to stay away, because Dante was dangerous. So Maxim fled back to Risembol and married an orphan girl named Cassandra Elric. Since he had no last name of his own, Maxim took on hers."

"So that's where you get your family name…." Roy muttered thoughtfully. "But what happened to Hohenheim?"

"He approached Dante and the soulless homunculus. She told him that they were going to rule over everyone, immortal. Hohenheim told her she was full of shit and that he would never join her. She said that he would then be forever a part of this land he loved.

"And so she transmuted the ground, burying the city in a large underground cavern and at the same time she took the soul from Hohenheim's body and transmuted it into the city." Al was thoughtful after finishing that part.

"Transmuted?" Roy was still confused about that word.

"The act of performing alchemy." Alphonse told him. "You'll get it eventually. So basically Hohenheim of the Light lives eternally, trapped in Old Central to this day."

"The dream!" Roy remembered the dream where the talked to the man: Hohenheim.

"Yes, he does come to us in dreams on occasion." Al smiled. "Can't remember what he said, can you?"

"No, I can't." Roy admitted.

"He can visit anyone's dream but the only ones that can remember are related to him. If you had sex with my brother you'd fall in that category too." Alphonse explained. Roy turned red as a tomato at the mention of sex. Al noticed this with amusement. "It's only natural, me and Winry always sleep together."

"So what does Dante have to do with anything again?" Roy asked, assuming she was dead.

"Dante isn't dead; she's been looking for Maxim and his descendants for years. She uses taboo alchemy to artificially lengthen her life. When dad joined the military she realized who he was and started pursuing him for her own plans. Around then mom and dad decided to give her the slip and disappeared from the world." Alphonse continued.

"Where did they go?" Roy asked the question all of Amestris often asked.

"See that forest yonder?" Al pointed at the forest. "There's a cabin in there, that's where they were for a long while. The other reason they left was because mom kept on getting pregnant with Ed, but with those laws, the doctors would kill him almost immediately after birth."

"How do you know it was Ed?" Roy asked.

"Each child had the Name Fullflame on their chest." Al looked at Roy seriously. "They knew about you and that their child was to be your Fighter Unit. They wanted both of you to have a chance, so that's the biggest reason they ran away."

"Your parents knew about me?" Roy was amazed.

"They had access to your records. In our house is a picture of you while you were in training, Ed liked to spend hours looking at it longingly." Al chuckled at the memory.

"So Ed was born in that forest…." Roy muttered, awed.

"That's when dad and mom came back into town. Dad spelled the townspeople so that they wouldn't tell anyone who and where they were. I was born two years later." Al smiled.

"So why can't I see the house?" Roy asked. Al stopped right before the stone wall the separated the yards.

"Expose your Name." Al told him rolling up his left pant leg to reveal the word 'Hope'. Roy dutifully took off his jacket and shirt again. Crossing over the wall, Al's Name glowed gold for a moment then returned to normal. Afterwards Al rolled his pant leg down. Roy hopped over the fence seeing a sudden vision of a man with intense gold eyes, a beard, and long blond hair. He nodded in approval and Roy found himself on the other side of the wall.

"What the heck was that?" Roy muttered to himself as he put his shirt back on.

"Dad's spell. Look! You can see the house now!" Alphonse pointed towards the top of the hill were a house did sit. Roy blinked.

"Amazing."

"Well four years ago Ed was playing outside when a guy walked up to the house. I didn't see him but dad told me that he was that homunculus of Dante's. After a big fight he took Ed away." Alphonse went quiet. "Mom and dad were worried they told me that Dante had Edward and that they were going to do something about it. They told me to live with Winry and her family and wait for you to come."

"Wait for me?" Roy stopped, stunned.

"Dad cast a spell, telling me that you would come." Al explained. "He told me to wait for you, tell you what was going on, then help in any way I could."

"So Ed's been kidnapped by this Dante person, who's a really powerful alchemist?" Roy summed up.

"Yup." Al agreed. "I know some about alchemy, but Ed was always better…."

"Wait! You can do alchemy!?" Roy gasped, mortified.

"Just because one person did something really bad with it doesn't make it any less useful." Al told him. "You see it is not alchemy that is bad, it is the person using it."

"Ah." Roy went quiet. "But what's with Ed's talking?"

"Ah now that's a different story…." Al began.

--------

This chapter is extra long, mainly because it wouldn't cut itself off in a good place. So I cut it off at a cliffhanger for you. And I have a nasty surprise in store for you next chapter! See you then!


	16. Relations

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own my plot, that's about it.

Recap: Alphonse does some serious storytelling and explaining. Recommended chapter refreshing: chapters 3, 5, 9, and 12.

Other Stuff: Due to beta flaking, I've switched. ehxhfdl14 is my new beta. And in other more relevant news, the college term is almost over which means I can spend more time writing, if I get inspired.

Chapter 16: Relations  


Because of the ban on alchemy, modern day Amestrians are unable to identify anything alchemy related. The blue light emitted from a transmutation circle is usually mistaken for witchcraft or a trick of light, the alchemic arcs of lightening just fancy effects, and the transmutation circle itself just a pretty drawing. Objects that have been transmuted usually have chunks of poorly reformed mass sticking out at odd angles; a modern day Amestrian might call it abstract art, or simply poor quality. Since the members of the government are just as clueless about alchemy as the rest of the country, they take any 'witchcraft' and execute the 'witch' in question for it.

This great ignorance the alchemy ban has placed upon the country has made it easier for underground alchemists to thrive. Richard Hawkeye, a talented and knowledgeable alchemist, lived without fear of getting caught and executed. Unfortunately for him his neighbors noted strange light coming from one of his windows frequently enough they decided to report him as a 'witch'. For the apprehending of 'witches' the government would typically send in Pairs. Light was sent to investigate the case of Richard Hawkeye.

Maes Hughes had the memory of that case slam him unexpectedly mid-sip of tea. Needless to say, the tea wound up all over the coffee table.

"Are you okay?" Winry asked, staring at Maes.

"I just remembered something." Maes explained quickly. "A friend of mine's father was put on trial at one point, I just remembered the case file."

"Ah." Winry's curiosity was fulfilled.

"Any idea how long those two will be?" Maes asked, glancing out the window at Roy and Alphonse trudging up the hill.

"Plenty long." Pinako assured him. "They have a lot to discuss."

"Ah." Maes said no more. Within minutes of being in the Rockbell household he had discovered they were not interrogated easily and gave up trying.

**-break-**

Dante stood before a large cage. The cage was very Spartan, consisting of a few crude iron bars and a wood top. Inside were two people, snuggled against one another. Dante smirked and opened the cage, taking out a marker as she did so. She drew three transmutation circles on each person and activated them. Both people let out a small moan and went quiet. Dante nodded and left, shutting the cage behind her.

"Ilandere, how has their physical health been?" Dante asked her companion.

"Perfect." Ilandere responded.

"Good, two more experiments and I'll be ready for Edward." Dante smiled.

"You did consider his binding right?" Ilandere asked, curious.

"Yes, that's what those two were about." Dante waved Ilandere off. "Now where did Envy go? I have work for him…."

**-with Envy-**

"So this circle would counteract anything Dante would attempt?" Envy asked, his eyes burning holes into the transmutation circle before him.

"Yes, it would rebound on her." Hohenheim of the Light assured the homunculus.

"I have to go." Envy stood up quickly.

There was a sudden crack in the air, smoke billowing out across the room. There was the distinct thump of a body hitting the ground just before the smoke cleared. Edward lay on the ground, sweating and panting.

"What the hell do you think you were doing!?" Envy roared at the boy. Edward's shut eyes twitched and his breath hitched, he attempted to say something, but no words came. With a shudder, Edward sank further onto the floor, giving up attempting to move.

"Dammit!" Envy hissed. He bent down and picked the boy up, rubbing the back of his head as he did. Hohenheim walked over, clapped his hands, and set his hand on Edward's forehead.

"He's got a fever on top of a case of serious exhaustion." Hohenheim told the Sin. Envy made a disgruntled face back.

"Damn…." Envy hissed. "I'll have to take him back to Dante like this…."

"He did tell me once he would always be there if his Sacrifice called him." Hohenheim explained. "Perhaps if you admit he told that to you when he was younger…."

"You're lucky I'm good at lying." Envy snorted.

"No, he is." Hohenheim corrected.

**-break-**

Hohenheim Elric was staring at the sky. Currently he was standing in the snowy peaks of the Briggs Mountains, Trisha Elric by his side. Notably it was not snowing.

"What is it?" Trisha asked. Hohenheim took off his glasses and looked into the sky, concentrating.

"Alphonse. Roy." He said after a while.

"So they've finally met?" Trisha inquired. Her husband nodded. "Good."

_And I hope they are ready for the tasks that they must do…._ Hohenheim thought to himself. He took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders and continued his climb up the mountain. Trisha followed quietly, just as she always had.

_I hope General Armstrong remembers her promise…._ Hohenheim prayed as he continued to climb up the mountain.

**-break-**

"We have a problem." Hawkeye explained to her comrades as she burst into the office.

"Problem?" Breda asked, sitting up.

"The Fuhrer put an execution order out on Mustang." She explained curtly.

"What the hell?" Havoc was stunned.

"They deemed Edward too dangerous and decided the best way to get him was to kill Roy." Hawkeye looked somber. She knew full well that if something happened to her Other Half she would be insane.

"Dammit." Fuery muttered. "What can we do?"

"Nothing." Falman looked at the ground. "Absolutely nothing."

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I am evil; I didn't actually resolve my last cliffhanger and left you with something ominous and suspenseful instead. Review and I might have more mercy.


	17. Words

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own my plot, that's about it.

Recap: Last chapter you heard what was going on with all the other parties, this chapter we will pick up from the end of chapter 15.

Other Stuff: Finals are evil. Please read my little explanation.

**A Quick Explanation of the 'Hohenheim's :**

There was some confusion last chapter because two of the characters in this story have the same name: Hohenheim. To prevent further confusion I will now give you an explanation and ways to tell the differences between the two of them.

Hohenheim of the Light: He is over 400 years old and is currently without a true body. His soul was bound to the city of Old Central where a 'ghost' of him wanders. He is often seen interacting with Dante, Ilandere, Envy/William, and Edward. He can speak properly (yes that is important) and can do alchemy without a transmutation circle. He does not have a Name, nor is he an 'Elric'. His only children are Maxim Elric (long dead) and William (who was later reborn as Envy). Hohenheim Elric (see below) is a descendant of his.

Hohenheim Elric: He is 55 years old and can't talk; he uses a notebook and pen to communicate usually. He is the Fighter Unit of Light and is currently wandering around in the Briggs Mountains with Trisha Elric (his wife and Other Half). He can do some basic alchemy and has to draw out circles. Unlike Hohenheim of the Light he wears glasses and constantly has Trisha at his side. He has two sons, Edward and Alphonse. Hohenheim Elric is also ex-military.

To help you further tell them apart I will have them referred to by their full names when I switch to what they are doing. If you still have difficulty keeping your Hohenheims apart, please let me know.

Chapter 17: Words

Risembol had housed the Elric family since before the Massacre 400 years prior. Every family in Risembol was aware of that. The Elrics were a weird lot, but to the people of Risembol, they were _their_ weird lot. You take care of your neighbors in a town like theirs. When Risembol was officially annexed into Amestris, they placed a military outpost in the town because there was a train station in the town. The military officials that were posted there always became an important part of the town. Not that they had much choice when the townsfolk demanded they did. By keeping the military officials close, the townsfolk could better protect the Elric family. The Elrics in return would use their alchemy to benefit the town and all its residence.

Of course, despite this protection and love of the Elrics, the family was not immune from the gossip that flew through the town. There was an especially large scandal fifty-five years ago….

Alphonse didn't know why he remembered the scandal when Roy asked him about Ed's speaking habits. He then smiled, drawing the connection in his head. It was because of what happened fifty-five years ago that Ed and his father both had their strange speech habits.

"He got it from dad." Alphonse said after a while. Roy frowned at him. "You see he and dad can't _not_ cast spells when they speak. It's so natural for them to do that, they just don't talk to prevent bad stuff from happening."

"But then why can he say my name?" Roy was so confused. The not talking to avoid casting spells made sense, but why was it like that in the first place?

"Which defines you better? Roy or Fullflame?" Al asked back. Roy stopped and made an 'o' noise. "He can't call you Colonel either for the same reason."

"I see…" Roy was thoughtful. "So basically if he talks, he casts a spell?"

"For better or worse, yes." Al frowned. "You'll see when we get into the house, there are some unexpected… _side effects_ that still linger."

"Side effects?" Roy stared at Al, curious.

"Spells are defined by words. At one point when we were little, Ed told one of our neighbors 'I can't write' and now he literally _can't."_ Alphonse explained with an example. "On the other hand Ed can draw pictures, because that's not writing."

"How does he express himself?" Roy looked at Al, horrified at the news.

"Charades usually." Al shrugged. "I always just read his expression."

"So your dad was just one of those Paired people that randomly crops up in families?" Roy assumed.

"No, his mother was a Sacrifice." Al looked thoughtful.

"Don't you mean his parents were a Pair?" Roy was confused.

"No, his dad was not a Named person." Al corrected Roy. "I don't know all the details, dad doesn't talk about it. I don't think mom knows the whole story either…." Alphonse knew he was lying to Roy, but his father's birth story wasn't really any of the man's business. Maybe later Ed would convince their father to tell Roy the whole truth, assuming they could save Ed to begin with.

"I see…." Roy was quiet, his mind spinning. He couldn't imagine touching anyone else that kind of way that was not his Other Half, there had to be some sort of unwillingness in the affair on someone's part. Of that Roy was certain.

"Well here we are." Alphonse pulled out a key, unlocked the front door, and strode into the house. Roy took a deep breath and followed. The interior was very comely, clean wood floors, plush teal carpets and cream walls. The trim was a green that harmonized nicely with the teal carpets. The furniture was wooden with blue cushions. On the walls were various paintings and pictures of members of the Elric family. The coffee table and corner tables each had a pot of fresh flowers on them and some little horse figurines.

Roy looked at the figurines with interest. They were made from metal and were of progressing better quality. The first one resembled a horse but had a lot of strange chunks sticking out the sides. The last one was completely smooth and was unmistakably a horse.

"Ed made those with alchemy." Alphonse told him. "I made the cats on the other side of the room."

"Ah." Roy was awed.

"You see these chunks? That's how you can usually tell if something was crafted with alchemy." Alphonse explained. "A good alchemist can minimize how much of that their transmutations have."

"There's none on this-" Roy stopped as his foot bumped into something; he had been stepping towards the last horse to point. Quickly he turned his gaze downward to see what he had bumped into. It was a little black box with a long white appendage sticking out of it that reminded Roy distinctly of a penis for some odd reason.

"Must have forgot to pick that one up…." Al muttered casually, picking up the object.

"What's that?" Roy asked.

"Homemade vibrator and stretcher." Al told him with a smile, he held it up to Roy, proud. "I made it for Winry!"

"What is it for?" Roy was still trying to figure out what Alphonse had meant by 'vibrating' and 'stretching'.

"It's a sex toy." Al told Roy. "Works good for vaginal and anal, Winry and I really enjoy it."

"F-for sex!?" Roy blushed a new shade of red. For Roy, who had never had a formal sex education, talk of sex toys was new and strange.

"Do you want to see my collection?" Al asked sounding innocent, when on the inside he was smirking.

"Collection?" Roy wasn't sure he wanted to know about it.

"Oh yes, my collection," Al grinned, "I've got rings that keep you hard but not spilling, all sorts of flavors of condoms and lube, and even an assortment of lotions and rubs that make you itch and burn in all the right places." He finished the sentence very suggestively. Roy just sat there, wide-eyed and a little afraid.

"No thanks." He managed to spurt out after a moment.

"You're such a virgin!" Al snickered.

"Shut up." Roy looked away, noticing the white kitchen and hallway. Part of him was embarrassed by how little he knew, part of him was upset and worried as to whether or not he could please Edward when they actually did have sex, and the last part was jealous that Al got to have sex life, while he had none.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you so unhappy." Al muttered his apology, having Felt Roy's emotions.

"What's down that way?" Roy asked.

"Bathroom, guestroom, and the study." Al explained. "Do you want to see Ed's room?"

"Yes!" Roy's face lit up. Somehow seeing Ed's room was going to bring them closer, he was certain. Alphonse led him up the stairs, past the paintings of the various men of the family.

"How come there aren't any pictures of women?" Roy asked innocently as he and Al topped the stairs.

"Elrics only have male children." Al stated, it was a fact.

"Ok." Roy was a little confused, but went with it all the same.

"This is my room." Al pointed to the door that had a little wooden sign that read 'Alphonse E.'. "This is mom and dad's room-" no sign "-and this is Ed's room." Ed's door had sign that read 'E & R'. Roy gasped, realizing what the sign meant. It meant 'Edward and Roy'. Roy blinked, amazed.

"Mom and dad got as much information on you as they could for Ed," Alphonse babbled, "they wanted him to know you, even if only from afar." Roy said nothing, but just ran his fingers over the wood thoughtfully.

"Go in, it's your room too." Al gave Roy a little push.

Roy took a deep breath, turned the knob, and entered.

--------

How much does Ed know about Roy? What kinds of things await Roy in that room? And will Alphonse spurt some kind of horny, sex joke on Roy? Drop a review and you'll get to see!


	18. Memories

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: I own my plot, that's about it.

Recap: Roy is a very innocent and ignorant person when it comes to sex; on the other hand Al is very experienced and makes sex toys in his spare time…. Poor Roy.

Other Stuff: I broke 100 reviews last chapter! That's really flattering and awesome for me! THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!!! Speaking of reviews, I got one for the last chapter that really amused me and will be included at some point in this story. I'll share it with y'all:

"The sex toy thing was unbelievably funny.

Now all that needs to happen is a lemon between Edward and Roy (not a dream please). Maybe they could get Al to lend some of his toys." - lost cause, an anonymous reviewer.

Chapter 18: Memories

The Elric family home was originally a single story home with one room. Maxim and Cassandra Elric built it themselves about 410 years ago. They had a painting made of the two of them before their newly finished home. This picture hangs in its original place on the wall, which oddly happens to now be a bathroom on the first floor. The back wall of the bathroom and the front of the house are the only parts of the original that remain.

Over the course of the several generations that have lived in the house, each added a little something to it. Each generation preserves a part of the pervious generations' work so that every person who had ever lived in the house had a permanent mark on it. Hohenheim Elric had turned the deck into Edward and Roy's bedroom when it became his turn to change the house. He also later adjusted the placement of the wall between Al's room and his brother's discovering that Ed needed a little more floor space.

Roy didn't know the history of the Elric family home and its various stages of remodeling, all he knew was that he was impressed with the result. Ed and his room was decently sized, having easily enough room for two occupants. It was a remarkably symmetrical room, two dressers, two wardrobes, and two desks with a large king-sized bed in the middle. It was as if the room was divided in half, the clean, unused half belonging to Roy, the messy and abandoned half belonging to Edward. The room itself was a pleasant blue color with dark purple trim that gave it a regal feeling. All the furniture in the room was made from cherry wood, looking graceful and elegant. The bed spread had a flame theme, an obvious allusion to the owners' Name.

With a quick glance at the ceiling Roy saw a pen suspended in mid-air. He blinked a few times while he remembered Alphonse's remark about 'side effects'. Obviously Edward had said something to that pen, forcing it to hang in mid-air. Dismissing it to save his sanity, Roy turned his attention to Ed's desk.

Roy carefully made his way over the discarded clothes and toys on the floor of Ed's side. He pulled the chair of Ed's desk back and sat on it, looking out the window at the lovely view of the forest. He glanced down at the desk, seeing stacks of alchemy books, dictionaries, and papers with what he guessed were Ed's equivalent of notes (just a series of drawings and doodles that made no sense to Roy). It was then he saw the picture frame.

The frame was a simple one, a rectangular dark brown wooden one. In it was a picture of Roy during his days at the training facility. It had been a special day for him because they had allowed him off the compound to visit the nearby lake to go fishing. Roy had caught a small fish that day and one of his watchers decided to take a picture. So in this image was Roy holding up a small fish that had chosen at the moment to start trashing and caught Roy by surprise.

_I was so innocent…._ Roy touched the edge of the frame, his eyes full of sorrow and regret. _And so alone…. I still am._ He sighed and shut his eyes to fight back the tears.

**-break-**

William set the exhausted Edward down on his bed. With a quick glance around the room, William realized how barren it was. The only thing in the room was the bed. The bed itself was very minimal and Spartan. The room did have a color theme: white. Everything in it was white. Edward's clothes (which Dante allowed him to pick out himself from a remarkably large selection each morning) were in another room, as well as his toiletries. William frowned, not liking how plain the windowless room was.

"William…." Edward mumbled, catching the other man's attention.

"Yes?" He asked Edward, brushing some hair from his eyes.

"Roy." Edward then swung his arm out as if demonstrating something about the room he was in. William thought about it for a minute, trying to find Ed's meaning.

"Sorry." William told him, reaching behind Edward and pulling his braid loose. Edward looked away, unhappy. "Just get some rest, okay?"

Edward nodded slowly and shut his eyes.

_How the heck does he sleep in a room like this?_ William asked himself.

**-break-**

Roy felt a hand on his shoulder. Snapping around, his onyx eyes met the gold of Edward's. The rest of him appeared somewhat see through and ghost-like, but his eyes were clear and shinning. His face wore a small, tired smile.

It didn't take long for Roy to realize what this meant. Wherever Edward currently was, he was unconscious and would have little to no memory of his experience here. On the other hand he could show and tell Roy things (assuming the spell thingy didn't apply to this state). But the most important thing this meant was that they were very, very strongly connected.

"Hey…." Roy smiled to his Other Half. Edward's smile broadened. He slid his hand into Roy's and began to pull him towards Roy's half of the room. Roy, following Ed's encouragement, opened the wardrobe to see a few of his uniforms hanging in it, rank Colonel and all. Roy blinked, a little amazed. There was also a very nice tuxedo in the wardrobe.

_'Try it on.'_ Ed's whispering voice encouraged. Roy quickly undressed and picked up the tuxedo, but before he could get anywhere with it, he felt Ed's arms warp around his waist.

"I love you." Roy told his Other Half.

_'I always waited for you to come here.'_ Ed explained, burying his face in Roy's back. _'If it ever became too much for me I'd sit on the bed and hold my picture of you against my Name….'_

"I always tried to imagine what you looked like…." Roy admitted. "What you actually look like exceeds anything I could have come up with."

_'You lack imagination.'_ Edward snorted, grinning playfully.

"I'd still like to try this on…." Roy pointed at the tuxedo. Edward released himself from Roy's back and sat down on the bed, waiting. With a small roll of the eyes, Roy dressed himself. He glanced at himself in the mirror, finding himself looking sharp and snappy.

_'My sexy.'_ Ed was drooling a little.

"Always." Roy smiled back. "How'd you get uniforms of mine?"

_'In that wardrobe there will always be clothes for you.'_ Edward answered cryptically.

"Must you talk in riddles?"Roy gave Ed a flat look.

_'I don't get to talk usually, I'll do it however I want.'_ Ed glared at Roy.

"What do you know about me?" Roy asked as he sat down on the bed next to Edward.

_'You graduated at the top of your Sacrifice class.'_ Edward said after a while, pausing again in thought. _'Not a whole lot now that I think about it….'_

"I know next to nothing about you." Roy sighed.

_'My family's always been in hiding, it can't be helped.'_ Edward sighed. _'You're lucky, you get to be free.'_

"What do you mean?" Roy looked at Edward carefully.

_'As long as I'm alive I'll never be free.'_ And with a quick snap, Edward disappeared. Roy blinked a few times, feeling somewhat ridiculous. He sighed and crossed the room finding that his dresser was also full of clothes. The desk had writing materials and things to be written on. But the best part of the desk was the picture of Edward also holding up a fish he just caught. This one wasn't wiggling, but judging by the mud and sticks in Ed's hair, had been a hard catch.

_Huh, he had short hair when he was little._ Roy noticed.

---------

A meaningful moment in the lives of Ed and Roy. I hope you liked!


	19. Alchemists

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Does anyone actually read this thing? If not, why am I bothering? I don't own it, k?

Recap: Roy gets a little tour of Edward's and his room. Tuxedo included.

Other Stuff: Now it is time for another plot twist you were not expecting! Please read the definitions bellow (written in response to a very confused beta).

**Another important explanation thing:**

Name: A Name is defined by the strange birthmark that resembles a word. Whatever that word is, is that person's Name. Having a Name means you are either a Fighter Unit or a Sacrifice.

Fighter Unit: A Fighter Unit can cast spells and create Auras. They usually need their Sacrifice to help them maintain emotional stability and management of their powers. Known to be unempathic with others. They can sense other Fighter Units.

Sacrifice: A Sacrifice takes damage, strategizes, handles emotional stability of both Parts, and helps the Fighter Unit modulate their energy. They can sense the emotions of others.

Pair: Named people come in Pairs, a Sacrifice and a Fighter Unit.

Part: A Part refers to one person from a Pair. Example: Edward is a Part of Fullflame.

Other Half: One Part's way of referring to the other Part in the Pair. Example: Jean is Riza's Other Half.

Chapter 19: Alchemists

The Armstrong family was a family that held tradition close to their hearts. They will willingly admit to anyone that their family has its own brand of traditional alchemy-that is not practiced of course, it would be illegal. In the family manor there is an entire library dedicated to the family tradition of alchemy. The Armstrong family still reads the books, still learns the tradition and even practices the alchemy to make sure they know it still works.

Well it's not true exactly, since they do more than a little maintenance practice; they do a lot of practice. They are a family of alchemists in hiding, a place the government never thought to look. After all, who was going to deify their sparkles and musculatures?

Hohenheim Elric was well aware that their family was comprised of practicing alchemists; his family was much the same. The entire basement of the Elric family home was a library dedicated to the art. As he and Trisha marched up the side of the hostile Briggs he remembered his last conversation with Major General Armstrong, Queen of the Ice Castle.

**-flashback-**

_Hohenheim was standing on the outer wall of the Briggs Fortress, looking out into the infinite expanse of white. He was wearing his blue military uniform and black coat, both of which were billowing in the wind. He heard footsteps from behind him._

_"So what brings a man like you to this wall?" Major General Armstrong was the owner of the footsteps. She was tall, broad, and strong in stature, with long blonde hair and sharp eyes. _

_Hohenheim said nothing, choosing instead to take off his glasses, and studying Major General Armstrong's now blurry face._

_"Are you being dramatic?" She asked, teasingly. His look held complete seriousness. With a sharp intake of breath he released his Aura; it was large enough to encompass them._

_"For this fight my words hold no spells."__ Hohenheim announced._

_"Oh?" The woman raised an eyebrow._

_"Spells are a burden." Hohenheim remarked. "They get in the way of what needs to be said."_

_"So what is it you want to say, Light?" The general asked him._

_"I'm not going to tell them how much you know about alchemy, it will only cause trouble." Hohenheim admitted after a while. _

_"What will they do? Put me to death? I'd love to see that." She laughed at the thought._

_"No, you'd just get used by Dante." Hohenheim answered._

_"Ah, that woman that's after your family." The general eyed him. "If it weren't for the fact you are the most honest person I know I wouldn't believe anything you tell me about her."_

_"I need you to look over what alchemists I do find, they'll help you up here in the Briggs." Hohenheim looked out at the snowy expanse again. "And I'll need your help again when it's time to finally kill her."_

_"How will you know when that is?" The general asked._

_"When my gut tells me the time is right." He answered with a smile, shutting down his Aura._

_"Then I swear, on the honor of the Armstrong family, I will do this for you." She promised him._

**-end flashback-**

Hohenheim prayed her vow still held meaning after all these years.

**-break-**

"What's this?" Roy had opened up another drawer in his desk. Inside there was a present, wrapped in red paper with a big, gold bow. It wasn't a very big box, which made Roy wonder what was inside. He carefully unwrapped it, wondering what Edward could have left for him. Inside there was a pair of gloves. Holding them up, Roy realized the gloves were not made from cotton; they had rough, sandpaper-like texture. On the back of each glove was an intricate circle. Carefully his fingers traced over the circle, feeling the difference in texture from the rest of the glove; it was as if the circle had been carved in blood.

Carefully, Roy rolled the gloves over in his hands too look at the palms. Another circle had been drawn onto the surface, this one looking a brown. These circles were stranger because it seemed like each glove held half a circle. This circle seemed less complicated than the one on the back, which made Roy wonder why it was cut in half and distributed over two gloves.

"Here goes nothing…." Roy mumbled and put the gloves on. They fit perfectly. He basked in the feel of the lining of the gloves. It was silk; Roy shuddered with pleasure. He decided he loved these strange gloves. He opened his palms to have a better look at the circle. He realized that if he clapped his hands together the circle would align, was this on purpose?

With a quick glance around to make sure he was alone, Roy took a deep breath and clapped his hands together. Suddenly a slow bit of what felt like warm water began to flow around the path of the circle on his palms. Little sparks shot out and arced into strips of blue lighting. Roy stood and watched in awe and wonder as a blue light began to seep out from between his palms.

**Crack!**

Roy landed, hard, onto the wooden floor. He sat up a moment, dazed. The surroundings were unfamiliar, consisting of many bookshelves, books, and long burnt out candles. Scorch marks and ash covered the floor he sat one. There was a desk in the room too; on it a few lit candles provided the scarce amount of light. Roy stood up, brushed the ash off himself and walked over to the desk. On it was a book open to a page with symbols and formulas he didn't understand.

"Ah so you're Roy…." A voice casually remarked from behind him. Roy snapped around to look at a man with blond hair and amber eyes. Amber like Riza.

"Who are you?" Roy asked, opening his senses to learn that the man was not hostile. In fact he was somewhat amused.

"Richard Hawkeye." He introduced himself. "I see you've met my daughter."

"Yes." Roy's look of recognition of the name had told the unspoken tale.

"Where am I?" Roy asked.

"In my soul's cage." Richard explained as he walked over and sat down at his desk. "Come over here, let's get started."

"With what?" Roy asked.

"Alchemy training." Richard was a little taken back by the look of terror on Roy's face. "Do you fear the unknown?"

"No." Roy glared at the man, of course he had no fear, he was a colonel in the military.

"But it still concerns you to be ignorant, no?" Richard asked.

"Yes, it does." Roy admitted.

"Well come here then, I'll cure you of your ignorance." Richard motioned him over.

"Why?" Roy demanded. Then after a pause, "How?"

"My soul is scribed onto the palms of your gloves." Richard pointed at the gloves Roy realized he was still wearing. "By connecting the circle you can access my cage."

"Why?" Roy asked again, staring at the gloves in awe.

"Because if you hope to fight and contend with Dante," Richard looked deadly serious, "you will need to understand her weapon at the very least."

"And at the most?" Roy's voice wavered with uncertainty.

"At the most," Richard smiled, "you could use it against her."

**-break-**

The moment Alphonse heard sparking and crackling from Roy and Ed's room, he knew Roy had found the gloves. Quickly the boy threw himself into the room to watch the transmutation finish its course. At the end two loud, cracking arcs flew from Roy's hands and hit his eyes, making the pupils contract and disappear, his expression go limp. Alphonse rushed to Roy's side in time to catch the man before he fell over onto the floor. Alphonse carefully carried Roy to the bed and tucked him in. With wry amusement, Alphonse noticed Roy was wearing the tuxedo Ed left for him.

"Good luck studying." Alphonse wished him and slipped out of the room.

**-break-**

"Now Edward, what number goes here?" Ilandere asked him, pointing to a piece of an equation on a chalkboard.

Edward gave her a grumpy look and flicked her off.

"Edward!" Ilandere growled and started to stomp towards him. "Are you being a bad boy?"

Edward paled, shook his head and held up five fingers.

"Good." Ilandere smiled and wrote a five on the board. She continued to write something beside it, it was a circle, but it was not complete.

"Finish the transmutation circle for me." Ilandere handed the chalk to Edward. The boy smiled and walked up, drawing on the board carefully. Within a short amount of time he had completed the transmutation circle. Studying it he grew pale.

"Now activate it." Ilandere asked.

Edward shook his head.

"You can't?"

Another shake of the head.

"You won't?"

A nod.

"Now why would you think that? This is a good circle, it will make you happy." Ilandere insisted.

Edward shook his head again. _This will disrupt my Name, hell no._

"Now do I need to punish you?" Ilandere gave him a psychotic smile. Edward turned back to the circle and made moves as if he was going to activate it, but instead drew a few more lines in strategic places on it. With a quick slap of his hand on the circle, he moved out of the way and watched it come to life. Within a few moments the chalkboard began to melt and turn into a green sludge on the floor.

"What!?" Ilandere shrieked.

Ed cocked his head to the side and appeared confused.

**-break-**

Dante finished drawing another massive circle on the floor. She nodded to Envy and he hauled the Pair over. He put one of the Parts at the center and strapped them down. With a smirk he dragged the Other Half to a nearby crucifix, where he hung them to watch. Quickly Envy retreated back and fetched another person, setting them down on another part of the circle.

"Thank you, my son." Dante told the homunculus. Envy smirked and stepped aside to watch as his mother transmuted the two humans. The circle lit up in a morbid, red light, sending angry arcs every which way. It was when the arcs turned black or purple that Dante would worry, but she had no reason to right now. All three humans started streaking, the Name glowing bright red on both members of the Pair. Soon the one in the circle had their Name turn blue and start to shift. The Unnamed person began to shriek louder as a blue light began to burn into their flesh. The Other Half on the crucifix screamed in louder and louder agony, their Name glowing brighter as the transmutation continued to take its course.

Then it abruptly ended. The Other Half on the crucifix went limp, dead. Their Name was bleeding, the warm blood gushing out of the wound as if it was being sucked out into the air. Within moments the Other Half turned deadly white and then the bleeding stopped.

Dante smiled at that and went to examine the other two humans, the new Pair with a new Name. Both were alive and moaning, exhausted.

"Untie them and see if they bond." Dante ordered Envy. He grunted and got to work.

"So this is your plan…." Hohenheim of the Light appeared behind Dante, his white robe billowing in some unseen wind.

"And there is nothing you can do." Dante smiled, turning around and looking at the man she had once loved and respected. "I really do owe you for all you've taught me."

"I didn't teach you alchemy to do things like this." Hohenheim reminded her. "I wanted you to help others."

"But I am helping! I'm preventing an entire country from misusing it!" Dante cried.

"At what cost Dante, at what cost?"

**-break-**

Hohenheim Elric, clad in his warm brown coat, stood before an impressive white wall. Trisha clenched his arm in worry and concern.

"Show yourself circle." He told the wall, a transmutation circle appearing. He glanced at his wife and flashed her a smile.

"Don't get cocky on me." Trisha half-heartedly tried to tease him and lighten the mood. Hohenheim walked up to the wall and placed his hands on the circle, with a small intake of breath, he activated it.

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Five pages! Gasp! I couldn't get everything I wanted done in three, so be thankfully for this extra-long update. So now I've introduced Richard Hawkeye, Riza Hawkeye's long-lost father. Who is he really? What is he planning to teach Roy? And how the hell did his soul wind up on Roy's gloves!? And what's with Ilandere and that 'lesson' in alchemy anyways? Was Dante's experiment a success? Drop a review and find out next time!


	20. Promise

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Recap: Hohenheim Elric had an arrangement with Major General Armstrong, now he's up in the Briggs seeing if there is any faith still in that promise. Roy on the other hand, is now studying under the eye of Richard Hawkeye. And Dante's plan is reaching its final stages.

Other Stuff: No history this chapter, instead I pick up from where I was last chapter. I'm starting to lengthen the chapters of this story, three pages isn't enough to get what I want down.

Chapter 20; Promise

The circle lit up, sending blue arcs every which way. Trisha stood back and watched faithfully, waiting for Hohenheim to finish his transmutation. A doorway appeared a little to the side of the circle. Hohenheim nodded to his wife and she walked through the threshold.

"Circle, undo what you have done and hide yourself again once I am inside." Hohenheim told the circle and went inside. The circle came to life again and the passage sealed shut. Inside Trisha was standing among a few soldiers, her expression stern.

"I am Light; you will take us to Major General Armstrong now." She told them.

"Prove it!" One of the soldiers sneered. She pulled down her sleeve and showed them her Name. To add to the effect Hohenheim walked up behind her and released their Aura.

"Do you question us now, or do you want a fight?" Trisha asked.

"This way please." Another soldier squeaked quickly in fear.

"Thank you." Trisha smiled and followed him. The Aura disappeared and Hohenheim gave the remaining soldiers a glare as he left.

"Shit, that really was Light." One of them muttered in awe.

**-break-**

"How are you going to teach me alchemy?" Roy was still a little uncomfortable with the idea.

"The way I'd teach anyone." Richard explained, pulling a book off the shelf and handing it to Roy. "Start by reading this." Roy grumbled and opened up the book. There were no words, but instead an image of a gate. To his horror the gate opened up and a black arm shot out of it, imbedding itself in Roy's forehead. Roy shook as he felt the knowledge of the book pour into his mind directly. After a few minutes the hand retreated making Roy drop the book shaking violently all the while. He hugged himself, his eyes distant.

"I don't have time for this." Richard sighed, looking exasperated at Roy. He closed the book and picked up the next one. "You need to keep going."

"What the hell old man!?" Roy snapped. "That _hurt!"_ Unintentionally, Roy used his abilities to make Richard feel the pain that was coursing through Roy's mind and body.

"There are greater pains in this world." Richard told him. "Now if you can't overcome this, then you will not be strong enough to help Edward when he needs you most."

Roy gave the man a defiant look.

"Prove to me just how strong you really are." Richard handed him the next book, a challenge. Roy read it much the same way, having the information shoved into his mind. After the third book he took to puking afterwards, then dry heaving when there was nothing left. Several hours later Roy had read all the volumes in the library, having a theoretical understanding of alchemy that rivaled Richard's.

"So because I'm in your soul, you can directly put information into my mind using your inner gate." Roy accused him after he finished the last one.

"Yes." Richard smiled.

"And it hurts you just as much as it hurts me." Roy nodded, understanding that there was a sacrifice on both parties.

"Probably more so, you're a foreign object inside my soul after all." Richard remarked casually.

"I remember the circle on the gloves, your body's still alive and kicking somewhere. Hell, your soul's still tied to it." Roy muttered, glaring at the ground.

"See how much you've learned?" Richard smiled. "The Elrics know a great deal more about other parts of alchemy than I do."

"But these pyrotex gloves you've given me…." Roy muttered. "The possibilities of flame alchemy…."

"I was too cowardly to save my daughter from the training facilities, too old to fight Dante." Richard told Roy. "But I have the skills and the knowledge to have done both."

"I have the youth, the courage, and the strength. That's why you gave me your knowledge." Roy finished.

"Hohenheim of the Light ought to be able to help me with this situation I'm in. Well now that we're done here all you have to do is practice." Richard informed Roy.

"Where?" Roy wondered.

"The people of Risembol know about alchemists and alchemy; they will say nothing as long as you don't light their fields on fire." Richard assured him.

"How do I leave?" Roy asked.

"The same way you came in." Roy then observed that he was still wearing his gloves.

Roy clapped his hands, feeling the surge of a transmutation circle activating beneath his palms. He looked calmly into the light, understanding and observing the circle. The awe was gone, as was the fear. For once in his life, Roy felt he understood how things worked. And that understanding gave him a new confidence.

**-break-**

"I was told to take him outside, Ilandere." Envy told the woman.

"You were?" She blinked at him twice.

"Yes, Master wants him to have one last experience in the sun before she alters him." Envy explained.

"Oh, I see her logic." Ilandere nodded. "Take him then, no hurting him."

"Yeah, yeah." Envy called back as if it was a real chore. He walked into the remains of the classroom and picked Edward up by his braid.

"Looks like we'll go to the infirmary before we go outside." Envy observed the cuts and scrapes on Edward's form. Edward blinked, his eyes lighting up with hope. With a small grunt, Envy flung Edward onto his back and hauled the boy out of the room.

**-break-**

"Thank you for granting me an audience, Fuhrer sir." Riza saluted the man. The Fuhrer's single eye examined her up and down carefully.

"At ease Lieutenant." He told her after a shot while. "Please take a seat." Riza was nervous, he could tell. She kept her movements rigid and formal. Thankfully her eyes showed determination.

"Sir, I believe there are some traitors in our midst." She began, obviously taking care with her choice of words. "Colonel Mustang is currently out on vacation with his friend, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes from Investigations. Earlier they were attacked on a train by a Pair claiming to be under your direct orders, sir."

"That does sound troublesome." The Fuhrer was quiet and thoughtful. He glanced around the room, on edge. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, was it?"

"Yes sir."

"How much do you know about your Colonel's Fighter Unit?" The Fuhrer asked her seriously.

"The kid is surrounded in mystery, his last name doesn't appear in any of our records, Hughes checked." She explained.

"Except for the entry on 'Light'." The Fuhrer told her. "I'm sure you're aware of that."

"Yes sir."

"And Lieutenant Colonel Hughes didn't report it to prevent unrest and unnecessary stirs, correct?" The Fuhrer asked.

"Yes sir."

"Good choice."

"I wholly agree with your sir."

"Where is Colonel Mustang at the moment?" The Fuhrer asked her. She hesitated, unsure. "That's an order."

"Risembol, sir."

"The hometown of the Elrics." The Fuhrer remarked, nodding in understanding. "Probably a good thing."

"You knew?" Riza's eyes were wide.

"I know a lot about the Elrics, the origins of Light, and even about Edward than most people." The Fuhrer sighed. "But I have to pretend I know nothing."

"You had me fooled." Riza managed to sputter.

"Thank you." The Fuhrer flashed her a tired smile.

"Heya Pride." Both soldiers turned and stared at the now open window. Sitting on the sill was Envy, Edward slung across his back, unconscious.

"What!?" The Fuhrer stood up, paling and angry.

"Calm down, I'm the real traitor here." Envy waved him off, pushing himself into the room. "Move lady, he needs that chair more than you." Riza got up and moved out of the way, keeping a wary eye on the man. Envy carefully set Edward in the chair, where the boy curled into it, content.

"Ever heard of 'Dante', Miss Sniper?" Envy asked her.

"Dante?" Riza shook her head.

"Well she's the one that's been running this country all these years." Envy smiled. "Your Fuhrer's just a puppet."

"Sir?" Riza gasped.

"It's true, I'm just Dante's puppet- Hell! Everyone who has ever come into power in this country is just her puppet." The Fuhrer sighed.

"Look I don't have all the time in the world, so I need you to listen carefully." Envy told her. "This boy here is Edward Elric, the cause of much upheaval lately."

"That's Edward!?" Riza gasped, staring at the innocent looking boy. Envy grunted and pulled up the boy's tank top to reveal his Name. Riza just stared, almost not believing the truth sitting in front of her.

"I need you to take a good look at him, because later I need you to rescue him." Envy told her.

"What!?" Both Riza and the Fuhrer gasped.

**-break-**

Roy grumbled and woke to the slight shaking of his shoulder. Edward was there, hovering over him in that translucent state.

"Edward?" Roy asked, confused.

_'We're running out of time, you need to get back to Central.'_ Edward told him, afraid and serious.

"Time, what's going on?" Roy jerked up.

_'Dante's making her move soon. Her array's almost perfect….'_ Edward shivered.

"What array?" Roy, now knowing something about alchemy could ask this question.

_'The one that will change my Name and bind me to her.'_ Edward told him simply.

"Oh God…." Roy gasped in terror.

**-break-**

Hohenheim and Trisha walked into the room, taking the two chairs before Major General Armstrong's desk. She sat there, unchanged as always.

"So Light has returned to have me fulfill my end of the bargain…." The General observed. Hohenheim and Trisha nodded.

"Well?" Trisha asked, concerned.

"The only one I'm worried about is Richard Hawkeye-" The General began, Hohenheim waved her off.

Taken care of, we just need to move his body to Central. Hohenheim's note explained.

"You know, you're asking me to commit treason…." The General reached into a drawer and pulled out two iron knuckles with transmutation circles on the backs.

"We're aware of that, but the Fuhrer's a puppet of Dante's. Bradley's one that counts his blessings, you know?" Trisha provided.

"Well, let's get going." The General opened a door and signaled to the man outside. "Get the alchemists, we're moving out."

**-break-**

"So you're the Boss' Fighter Unit…." Havoc remarked, a little stunned at the boy before him. All of Mustang's team had been assembled in the Fuhrer's personal break room to get a look at Edward. Edward was looking at the people all around him, recognizing them from Roy's memories, but still being baffled by them all the same. Currently Edward was sitting in a chair, eating a cookie.

"Not much of a talker…." Fuery observed.

"So, what are your parents' names?" Breda asked, using this as an opportunity to learn something about the mysterious Fighter Unit.

"Hohenheim Elric, Trisha Elric." Edward told them, a small smile playing his lips.

"Your parents are the Pair Light!" Falman gasped. Edward nodded. Edward glanced at a clock then pointed at it.

"William!" He gasped urgently.

"Dammit." Envy muttered. "Here are the plans to Old Central, take care of yourselves." Envy quickly picked up Edward and the two walked over to the window.

"You're going to jump out the window!? Are you nuts?" Breda stared at them, shocked.

"If I was a fragile human like the rest of you, I would whole heartedly agree that that is a foolhardy idea, but I'm not human." Envy left it at that and jumped out the window with Edward, who just flashed them all a smile and waved.

"What the hell?" Havoc sat down, not sure what to make of that.

"Perhaps I should explain why Edward can't talk…." Fuhrer Bradley offered. "And why I tried to have Mustang killed…."

---------

The forces of good are assembling to fight the forces of evil! But is that really enough? What of Dante's troops have I been neglecting to mention the entire story? Who are the alchemists under Major General Armstrong? What the heck is Envy/William planning? And why couldn't Ed stay on the surface? Hell, why is Ed still sticking around Dante if he can just teleport out at will? Drop me a review and I will write a next time for you to learn the answers!!


	21. Reasons

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Recap: Envy has a plan that involves Roy's command. Roy now knows some stuff about alchemy, but has no practice; he also knows he has to get back to Central. Hohenheim Elric and Major General Armstrong are moving their own force of alchemists down to Central for a confrontation with Dante. Dante is moving her plan into the final stages.

Other Stuff: I am sorry for the late update. There are some large domestic issues in my house that are (hopefully) over now. I should be updating more regularly should the issues not resurface. And I also started a plushie making project which is taking up a lot of time, but is thankfully almost done.

Chapter 21: Reasons

Fighter Units have a very different training regime than a Sacrifice. Fighter Units spend their first five years of training becoming physically fit and studying spells. Spells are limited only by the imagination and power of a Fighter Unit; because of this all Fighter Units are forced to indulge in things like fine arts to encourage creativity. Also Fighter Units spend a great deal of time purposely using their soul energy to gain as much control over it as they can and also to increase the amount of it they have.

After the first five years, typically a Pair is united for the first time. The first month after their meeting is dedicated to bonding. Physical and intimate contact strengthens bonds. After the first month the Pair then undergoes combat exercises and specific endurance training. In the Fighter Unit's case: emotional to make less work for their sacrifice. In the Sacrifice's case: physical so that they can withstand large masses of pain that are associated with spell combat. They are also taught of ways they can sense their Other Half and interact to make their Name stronger.

Riza Hawkeye was thinking back on how long she and Jean Havoc had been bonding. There were much strength they had from their strong bond, but like anything else, there were some things they couldn't do because their bond was not mature enough. She then thought of Edward and Roy, and their bond that was spiraling out of control. With a sigh, she shook her head and sipped the tea the Fuhrer had provided.

"I think it would be best if I start this story from when I came into office." Fuhrer Bradley began.

**-flashback-**

_King Bradley, the new Fuhrer of Amestris walked into his office, proud and content he had just gotten the ultimate promotion. Once inside there was a middle aged woman standing in there with a young man. The middle aged woman was dressed regally, her brown hair up and a tiara atop her head. The young man wore a skimpy shirt and a skirt, both made of tight, black material. He had long green hair and violet eyes. The woman's green eyes seemed inhumanly old and perceptive._

_"Hello, Mr. Bradley." The young man greeted him. "As of today you are officially Fuhrer, congratulations."_

_"Thank you." Bradley didn't let these people unsettle him._

_"Pride." The woman said after a while. "I will call you Pride."_

_"I beg your pardon?" Bradley didn't understand what she meant, or even who she was._

_"I am Dante, and this is my homunculus, Envy." She smiled then turned to her companion. "Envy, would you go kill the old Fuhrer?"_

_"Sure thing, master." Envy slipped out of the room, turning into some nameless soldier on his way out. Bradley couldn't help but gasp. He heard a clap and watched as Dante set her hands on the floor. Within moments the floor came to life and a spike grew from it, positioning itself two inches from Bradley's neck._

_"Now Pride, I don't have time to do all the little finer details of running a country, so you will do that in my stead." Dante walked up to him, in complete control. "And when I tell you to get things done, you will do them."_

_"Or what?" Bradley demanded._

_"Or I will turn this country into a Philosopher's Stone. And don't say that's impossible, I've already done it once." Her smile was the creepiest thing he ever did see. "And I will gladly do it again…."_

**-end flashback-**

"Dante caused the Massacre of Old Central?" Falman gasped.

"Yes." Fuhrer Bradley was quiet. "She's been holding this country hostage to force my hand in certain matters. She's been running the country behind everyone's back for centuries."

"How did you meet Edward?" Havoc asked.

"I purposely didn't tell Dante about Light until they disappeared. When I did tell her she told me to send men out to look for them. So I sent the men out." Bradley was thoughtful. "Eventually one of them had been walking through Risembol on vacation and saw Light at one of the local stores with their eldest child in tow. So I told Dante about the sighting in Risembol."

"Then what?" Fuery asked.

"Envy disappeared for a time. Then he returned with an unconscious Edward slung over his shoulder. The boy's been living in Old Central since." Bradley finished.

"It doesn't seem like he likes you very much." Breda observed.

"Would you like someone that spent every moment you knew them making fun of you and conspiring to do terrible things to you and the ones you love?" Bradley asked. "I was disillusioned by the thought that joining Dante and cooperating would give me some control of the situation. I was wrong."

"Then why did you continue to do that?" Fuery asked.

"That's easy!" Breda smiled. "You did it to lead her into thinking you were trustworthy so that you could later backstab her."

"Precisely. Unfortunately that involved taking out a lot of rage on Edward, to hold up appearances." Bradley explained. "I know what Dante is trying to do with that boy, and to save him and the rest of the country from that fate, I tried to kill him."

"What is Dante trying to do?" Havoc asked.

"She wants to become a Sacrifice and bind Edward to herself under the Name 'Meaning'." Bradley explained. "Doing that would kill Colonel Mustang, and give her access to terrible power."

"Someone as powerful as Edward is frightening enough." Riza looked pale. "We don't need him being led around by a psycho."

"Put agelessness into the mix and you've got something extremely frightening." Bradley told them.

"Wait, I thought the Philosopher's Stone could make you immortal!" Havoc exclaimed.

"Actually it does not." Bradley smiled. "What Dante does to keep herself alive beyond her years is transfer her soul from body to body, leaving one every time it grows old and frail."

"So she switches bodies?" Riza paled again.

"But there's a side effect to doing this, Hohenheim of the Light told me about it." Bradley smirked. "You lose a bit of your soul every time you transfer it."

"What does that mean?" Falman inquired.

"What it means is that her soul is now so weak and frail it can't support the body she's living in." Bradley grimaced at the upcoming thought. "Currently she's living in a body that's slowly rotting away. The next one will rot away even more quickly."

"Eww." Breda made a face.

"So she's physically not much of a threat." Havoc observed.

"This soul transferring and long living has only made her alchemy stronger and fiercer." Bradley warned them. "And though it is a comfort to see that her homunculus is not on her side any longer, it is not a comfort for me not to know where his loyalties lie."

"Why would that be, sir?" Fuery wondered.

"Because _he_ is truly immortal." Bradley left it at that.

**-break-**

"I just spoke with Alphonse, he and Roy are headed here." Hohenheim of the Light told William as they put Edward back in his cell. Edward smiled, content.

"Did you speak with 'hen-hen'?" William asked, using Edward's pet name for his father to avoid confusion.

"Yes, Hen-Hen is coming this way with Major General Armstrong and their small force of alchemists." Edward gave the ghost-like man a desperate look. "Yes, your mother is with them." Edward then gave him a nod.

"So did you discuss the plan with Roy's subordinates?" Hohenheim asked.

"Yes, they know to pull Ed here off the circle if it comes to that." William explained. "They also got a good look at him too." Edward nodded to confirm the story.

"Well Dante doesn't suspect anything." Hohenheim looked smug. "She still doesn't realize those circles she uses to keep me out of rooms need to encompass the entire room, not just a spot on the wall. I mean, I can't really look at that part of the wall where the circle is, but I can see what's right in front of it."

"Kind of stupid of her." William chuckled.

"Well she never checked them, just assumed they worked." Hohenheim laughed. "I read through her notes last night. I'll need a little help altering the circle."

"Don't look at me." William remarked defensively.

"I was going to ask the Fuhrer." Hohenheim added. "He's been on our side for a long while, after all."

"That's true." William and Edward both nodded.

**-break-**

"We've got to go!" Roy told Alphonse urgently. Alphonse yawned.

"You ought to put on shoes first." Al pointed at Roy's naked feet. "And I have to talk with Granny and Winry before I go anywhere."

"Bah!" Roy muttered, realizing he was still wearing the tuxedo.

"You stay here, get yourself composed, then head back to the Rockbells'. I'll go on ahead and clear things up there." Alphonse told Roy as he walked out the door. "And don't forget to reveal your name when you climb over the fence!"

"I won't!" Roy called back, climbing up the stairs to change his clothes again.

Alphonse walked outside and observed that the sun was setting. He sighed, realizing that they were stuck in Risembol for another day. Quickly he ran down the hill, rolled up his pant leg, climbed over the fence, and continued his jog back to the Rockbells'. He arrived at the front door of the yellow house, and Winry opened the door to let him in.

"Where's Roy?" Maes asked when Alphonse and Winry came into the living area.

"Sorting out his affairs." Alphonse explained.

"Granny," Alphonse made eye contact with Pinako, "me and Winry have to go to Central with Roy."

"Go pack your bags then, I'll go down to the station and order your tickets." Pinako got out of her chair and began to leave. "Mr. Hughes, would you mind making sure these two pack and start dinner?"

"Sure?" Maes wasn't expecting for the old woman to suddenly put trust in him.

"And don't worry, I'll get you and Roy tickets too." Pinako grabbed her purse and left.

"Well, let's get started!" Maes clapped his hands. Alphonse and Winry rolled their eyes and walked up the stairs, motioning for Maes to follow.

**-later-**

**Ka-boom!** An explosion shook all the windows of the Rockbell family home. Maes, like any good investigator, ran outside to see what it was. Alphonse and Winry simply opened up a window and looked out into the night. There was another explosion coming from the Elrics' yard.

"Looks like Roy found his gloves." Winry observed.

"Gloves!?" Maes turned around and stared at the teens, stunned. "Gloves can do _that!?"_

"It's more the work of the transmutation circles on the back," Alphonse explained, "and the sparks pyrotex makes."

"What!?" Maes jumped when there was another explosion. Moments later they saw Roy coming down the hill, laughing like a madman.

"What the hell?" Maes demanded of his friend.

"Hughes, watch this!" Roy's eyes were glittering with childish joy. He held up his hand, snapped his fingers and a small explosion occurred beside the house.

"Ayee!" Maes jumped, shocked and frightened by Roy's somewhat psychotic behavior.

"No alchemy in my house." Pinako used that motherly voice that left no room for argument.

"Yes ma'am." Roy told her, looking sheepish.

"Is dinner ready?" Pinako asked Maes.

"Y-yeah…." Maes stared at his friend, unsure what to think.

**-the next morning-**

"Now all of you be careful." Pinako told them from the platform.

"Don't worry Granny, we're always careful!" Winry assured her.

"I wasn't talking to you." Pinako smirked.

"Hey!" Roy and Maes cried.

"Well give my regards to your brother and your folks Alphonse." Pinako waved.

"Sure thing!" Alphonse smiled. The train's whistle brew twice and the group of four found themselves heading towards Central, towards Edward, and towards a battle they had as good a chance of winning as they did losing.

---------

Roy likes fire…. So now we have the others headed to Central! Will they encounter more interference on their way? Will I ever get around to explaining Richard Hawkeyes's story? And drop a review and I'll update sooner!


	22. Reflection

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: There is no reason to sue me, k?

Recap: Bradley explains how Dante has been ruling the country for centuries. Hohenheim of the Light is gathering his 'forces' to help Edward. Roy and Hope are headed back to Central.

Other Stuff: New fanart! It's really pretty! There's a link on my profile.

Chapter 22: Reflection

When Dante caught wind of the existence of Light she became excited. Pairs had always fascinated her, being able to change and define things with their spells. She knew that there had to be spells that could amplify and redefine her alchemy. Light seemed all powerful to her and she wanted a piece of that action. Another extra appealing part about Light was Hohenheim Elric, a descendant of the much evasive line of Hohenheim of the Light. She waited several long years for the results of this search, finally finding an unbounded Fighter Unit, the Elric boy, along with Light.

It did not take Dante long to ready a place for Edward in Old Central. It did, however, take her a good week to find a woman that looked enough like Trisha Elric for her to finish her decor. The woman's name was Ilandere. Dante had Ilandere kidnapped and brought to Old Central. To finish and assure that Ilandere looked perfectly like Trisha, Dante turned her into a chimera, altering her hair color, eye color, and as a side effect, severely screwing up her sanity. As long as Ilandere played the part of Trisha, all would be well. But the insanity that Ilandere now suffered from prevented her from looking like a good mother figure, so Dante instead decided to use her for torturing the boy.

Envy remembered Edward's arrival, mainly because it was the end of a long, long trip. Edward had a nasty habit of saying things purposely to cause Envy grief during the journey. Things like "your head explodes… now" (to which Edward made a break for it while Envy regenerated his head and ran after the boy), "you can't walk" (Envy just started running), and "birdies like to nest in your hair" (damn brat). Needless to say Edward spent most of the journey unconscious while Envy spent most of his time running with birds nesting in his hair.

Dante had been quick to explain to Edward the reason he was here was to learn how to be a good Fighter Unit for his Sacrifice. Edward, being 12 and somewhat gullible, actually believed her for a while and cooperated. After about a year Edward realized that she had lied and all hell broke loose. Eventually Dante threatened to have Ed's Other Half killed and the boy started cooperating again.

It was at that time that Edward's real tortures began. Dante brought in Ilandere to torture Edward, having given up on attempting on salvaging her sanity long ago, and Edward began to mistrust both women. He hated them. He grew to hate Pride too, since Pride would show him pictures of Roy with hidden guns pointed at him and pictures of Roy getting beaten during his training if Edward was being bad. No one in Old Central was nice to him (except Hohenheim of the Light, but he wasn't a real person), people there were _relatively_ nice and mean. Making Envy the relatively the kindest person in Old Central.

Envy didn't want anything to do with Edward after bringing him in, so he avoided Edward nicely, dropping sarcastic comments whenever Edward was around. Unlike the others, Envy did not beat Edward, yell at him, or threaten Roy's well-being. Envy had decided that doing those things to Edward was only going to get himself needlessly spelled.

Which is why Envy was startled when at the first moment alone he had with Edward, the boy ran up and hugged him.

Edward had smiled and then said "I take back all the things I told you on our trip here". Ever since then the homunculus found himself receiving nothing but smiles and affection from the young boy. After a short while he found himself trying to return the love the boy gave him. Of course the fact that Envy's idea of being loving and Edward's were very different became apparent almost immediately, so Envy sought out Hohenheim of the Light for advice.

In the first time in over 400 years, Hohenheim of Light got to talk to his son. And in the time that soon followed he also got to rebuild their relationship and love William himself. Envy stopped being a soulless, senseless being and became significantly more humane. Both decided quickly they wanted the best for Edward, even if it was at their own expense.

"Sens for your thoughts?" Hohenheim of the Light appeared a few steps behind Envy and sat down. The two were on a rooftop looking down at Old Central.

"I don't have a sens to my name, how could I pay you?" Envy asked mournfully.

"There are things much more valuable than sens." Hohenheim reminded him.

"Why'd you make me?" Envy blurted out suddenly.

"I felt terrible. I neglected you and poured all my energy into trying to learn alchemy. I didn't even know you were sick until you died." Hohenheim would have been crying if he could cry. "So I tried to make it up to you."

"Look where it landed us!" Envy snorted.

"Dante still has a bit of the Philosopher's Stone left, enough to restore your soul completely." The ghost assured his 'son'.

"What about you when this is all over?" Envy asked.

"I want to die." Hohenheim admitted. "I've experienced too many years beyond my own, trapped in an unchanging city beneath the earth."

"Yeah." Envy nodded, understanding. "Hen-hen seems like a nice guy, he's a good dad."

"Better than me." Hohenheim sighed.

"Is there anything you want before you die?" Envy asked.

"I want to see the sun," he turned his gaze skyward, staring at the ceiling, "just one last time."

**-break-**

"What the heck happened to him?" A woman with black micro braids asked as she helped haul another man on a stretcher down the face of the Briggs.

"In order to save him, we had to fake his death, like we did yours." Trisha explained, helping on the other end. "I don't know exactly what my husband did, but it threw him into this never-ending coma."

"Izumi, Trisha, hurry up!" Major General Armstrong urged them.

"Coming!" The woman called back.

Hohenheim Elric had paused, overhearing his wife's conversation with Izumi Curtis. He shut his eyes and remembered.

**-flashback-**

_Hohenheim Elric and Trisha were staying in the hotel next door to the Hawkeye residence. From their room window they had a fairly good view of a window on the side of the Hawkeye family home. _

'Calling it a family home is a bit of a joke, really….'_ Hohenheim thought. _'Especially when there is only one person living there.'

_"That looks like a study." Trisha observed from beside her husband. Today they had chosen not to wear their uniforms. Hohenheim nodded in affirmative. They watched a man, Richard Hawkeye, enter his study and mess around with some paper. After a while he grabbed something then ducked down onto the floor, out of sight. _

_"Do you think he grabbed chalk just now?" Trisha asked. Hohenheim shrugged, which really meant that he thought it was a possibility, but it was also probable that he did not grab any. Just then Richard rose and measured out some ingredients from containers nearby._

_"I'm thinking he's transmuting." Trisha knew that measuring out materials was one of the telltale signs of transmutations about to occur. Hohenheim just nodded, his face set. Richard carefully carried his mixture over to the spot he was standing on the floor and crouched again._

_"The next time I say 'bang' the following will happen: me and all my effects will be beside Richard Hawkeye, he will not notice me. Bang."__ With a loud crack, Hohenheim disappeared, leaving faint wisps of clouds in his wake. Trisha sighed, walked out of the hotel and started heading towards the front door of the Hawkeye home._

_Richard Hawkeye, oblivious to Hohenheim's presence in the room, started his transmutation. With brilliant flashes of blue and white, the lump of shoot in the middle turned back into wood. Richard sighed, looking tired and lonely._

_"You will now notice me as I am speaking to you."__ Hohenheim caught the man's attention. Richard gasped, leaping backwards in surprise._

_I am Hohenheim Elric.__ Hohenheim wrote quickly. __I am here to help._

_"What?" Richard gasped._

_**-later-**_

_"My wife died giving birth to our daughter." Richard explained, telling his life story to the Pair before him. "She has a Name, I saw it right away. It's on her right hand."_

_"What was her Name?" Trisha asked._

_"Sniper." Richard explained. The other two nodded, looks of sympathy and understanding in their eyes. "I knew my time with my girl was limited, so I tried my best to take care of her…."_

_"They took her away from you in the end, didn't they?" Trisha asked._

_"Yes." Richard sighed. "I've always practiced alchemy, but I threw myself into study trying to see if I could use it to get her back."_

_"I see." Trisha nodded._

_"I mastered fire alchemy, it has many uses. But I'm too old to be going out and rescuing daughters." Richard sighed. _

_How does fire alchemy work?__ Hohenheim wrote._

_And Richard explained._

_**-even more later-**_

_"So if I bind my soul partly to these gloves, my body will go into a coma, right?" Richard asked._

_"We have a friend that will take care of it for you." Trisha assured him._

_We need you to teach Roy everything you know about alchemy when you meet him.__ Hohenheim requested._

_"Before I commit, why can't you do it yourself?" Richard asked dryly._

_Because you need a successor._

_"…Fair enough. Let's do this." Richard huffed._

**-end flashback-**

"Hohenheim! Quit daydreaming!" Izumi smacked him on the side of the head. The man quivered and started to focus on the task at hand, getting back to Central.

**-break-**

"Any plans once we get to Central?" Alphonse asked Roy.

"Can you two fight?" Roy asked Al and Winry.

"Are you picking one with us?" Winry growled.

"He's not." Maes assured them.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. We're first going to see my subordinates and talk with them for a little bit. I need to look some things up while I'm there." Roy explained. "I know Edward is in Old Central but I only know one entrance; I should know more than one in case we have to retreat."

"Is there anything you need to do Mr. Hughes?" Alphonse asked Maes.

"I need to see my wife and daughter." Maes admitted with a smile. "And I think we all need some food and real rest before we can do any research in Central anyways."

"What do you mean?" Winry asked.

"Our estimated arrival time is 2:39 am, we'll be wanting beds by then, I'm sure." Hughes told them very a matter-a-factly.

"Where will we be staying?" Alphonse asked, curious.

"Either my home or his." Roy explained. "I have a guest bed and he's got couches."

"Why would we want to stay with him?" Winry asked.

"Safety? I live alone." Roy shrugged.

"You're my brother's Sacrifice, I doubt you're going to pull on me or Winry." Alphonse laughed.

"Just no sex, okay?" Roy asked them. They blinked.

"Why not?" The teens protested.

"Because I want to be the first one to have sex in that house." Roy admitted.

"Say, after we rescue Ed and all, do you want to borrow some of my toys?" Alphonse asked. Maes' eyes widened and both he and Roy blushed.

"Er, no thank you." Roy answered quickly.

----------

We're about 2-3 chapters from the end. I am encouraging all those people who have this story as an alert and aren't reviewing, to review sometime between now and the end of the story just so you can tell me what you liked about it. I like feedback, it means I can write an even better story when I write my next one!


	23. Central

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: There is no reason to sue me, k?

Recap: We found out the last little bits of the past that explain and tie everything together.

Other Stuff: I'm out of history to share with y'all, so we're just going to jump into the action.

Chapter 23: Central

"Any ideas as to how to pass the time?" Maes asked.

"We could tell stories!" Winry giggled and Alphonse moaned. Maes gave them a confused expression.

"I thought all Parts shared the same interests." Maes remarked.

"That's not entirely true." Roy countered quickly. "Parts are so just madly in love with their Other Half they tend to start sharing interests, or at least pretend to."

"Yeah, we're still separate people. It's not like we don't get into fights and whatnot." Alphonse pointed out.

"Oh." said Maes, feeling idiotic.

"Some Pairs actually have a lot of difficulty trying to find equilibrium with one another." Roy pointed out. "I've met several Sacrifices that had to move back to the Sacrifice-only dorms to get away from their Fighter Unit for a few days."

"So what _is_ the military training like?" Winry asked, completely curious. Roy and Maes both withdrew and became very quiet.

"Hell." Roy said after a while.

"I'll take your word for it." Alphonse sensed great distress and sorrow from Roy.

"Well, I feel like telling a story!" Winry announced. "So I'm going to tell one!" Alphonse moaned again.

"I think it would be best if you just let her do it." Maes consoled the teen.

"Doesn't mean I like it." Alphonse muttered.

"Okay, so back about fifty-six or so years ago we had a huge scandal in Risembol!" Winry began, making Alphonse visibly pale. "Well you see our town produced this lady, Heather Olivlin, she was the Sacrifice of Song. She slipped through the collection system and didn't get picked up until she was 14."

"Wow." Roy's eyes widened in amazement.

"Well this guy named Louis was crushing on her. So when Song came back into town for the first time in several years, Louis was really jealous that Heather had a boyfriend. Now I think Louis also suffered from some kind of weird mental thing where he'd swing in and out of insanity, Al?" Winry looked to her friend.

"He had a weird illness that had gone through the town and made people temporarily crazy." Alphonse corrected her, looking annoyed.

"Well anyways he got it in his head that if he got Heather pregnant she'd love him forever. So he did." Winry continued. "Her Other Half was furious and he and Louis got into a fight and Louis killed him."

"Didn't that kill Heather?" Maes asked.

"Not right away, she stayed alive long enough to have her baby, then died once the kid was off the breast milk." Winry answered quickly. "Not too long after Heather's death Louis got over his insanity, so he took his kid in and raised him."

"So that's the scandal, huh?" Maes was amused.

"What happened to Louis and his kid?" Roy asked.

"The kid grew up mute, 'cause his powers as a Fighter Unit prevented him from talking. He met his Other Half and they got married and had two boys." Winry babbled on. "I don't remember what happened to Louis."

"After Louis was introduced to his son's Other Half he walked out the back door of the house and wasn't seen again." Alphonse told finished.

"I thought you didn't know the story of your father's birth." Roy said after a while, glaring slightly.

"I didn't want to tell you." Alphonse glared back then looked out the window.

"Wait a minute! That was the story of the birth of Light!?" Maes was shocked.

"Louis Elric was my grandfather." Alphonse admitted but his expression told everyone else he wasn't going to say any more about it.

"Huh, well I've never heard of a Part having a kid that didn't belong to their Other Half." Maes was thoughtful.

"Al, Roy had a right to know, more than I do." Winry told Alphonse.

"That doesn't change the fact that it wasn't our place to tell him!" Alphonse yelled back.

"And how would have Ed told him!?" Winry yelled back. "Ed can't talk! He can't write!"

"Calm down." Roy used every empathic trick he knew to calm down the irate teens. Their expressions soon softened, and they hugged each other.

"Aww!" Maes pulled out his camera and took a picture.

"You know what I hate about trains?" Alphonse said after a while.

"What?" Roy asked.

"No sex."

**-much, much later-**

"Dang, she's heavy." Maes whined as he carried Winry down the street. Roy was carrying Alphonse and the luggage. Roy just rolled his eyes.

"That's just because she's asleep." Roy pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Maes asked.

"Conscious people are a lot easier to carry." Roy reminded him, it was a fact they taught all soldiers in basic training.

"How much further?" Maes panted.

"Over here?" Roy called from his front porch. Maes had walked past Roy's house. The burdened man turned around and groaned, retracing his steps to Roy's home. A few minutes later Alphonse and Winry were tucked in. Roy gave them both a ruffle on the hair then shut the door to his guest bedroom.

"Now what?" Maes asked, rubbing his shoulders.

"You go home and sleep." Roy told him. "We aren't getting anything done until morning anyways."

"I guess." And Maes departed.

**-break-**

"This is it, isn't it?" Trisha asked her husband. He gave her a grave nod.

"Let's go then." Major General Armstrong marched up the path, up the steps, across the porch, and right up to the floor mat. Trisha and Hohenheim Elric followed her quickly.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Roy Mustang jumped out of bed at the sudden noise. He growled, grabbed his gun, and rushed downstairs. He checked the clock on his way into the entry hall, noticing it was the decent hour of ten am.

"What do you want?" Roy hissed angrily at the person in front of him.

"That isn't how you greet a superior officer, Colonel." The Major General remarked dryly. She carried a bored expression.

"Major General Armstrong!" Roy gasped, not expecting the Queen of the Briggs to be at his front door.

"Are you going to let me in?" She asked.

"Er- yes, come in, sir." Roy led her in. Trisha and Hohenheim followed on her heels before Roy had a chance to protest. Soon all four people were sitting in Roy's living room.

"Nice pajamas." Trisha commented, observing that Roy was wearing red flannel pajamas with little yellow ducks on them.

"Thank you." Roy smiled. He told most people they had been a gift, but in truth Roy was a sucker for rubber duckies. Hohenheim looked around for a minute, then stood up and started to walk towards the bedroom without a word.

"Hey!" Roy called.

"Don't worry." Trisha told Roy, stopping the man from running after her husband. "He's just going to wake Alphonse."

"How did-!?" Roy gasped.

"I know where my son is, thank you." Trisha told him.

"Son!?" Roy's eyes were huge. "You're Light!?"

"Part of it, anyways." Trisha chuckled. "I'm Trisha Elric, nice to meet you."

"Roy Mustang." Roy shook her hand. _She's Ed's mother!_

"I'm sure you've heard of Olivier." Trisha gestured to Major General Armstrong.

"Yes. Would it be impolite to ask why you are here?" Roy asked her.

"I'm here with the cavalry." Olivier answered cryptically.

"Cavalry?" Roy asked.

"The alchemists in hiding." Alphonse answered with a yawn. Winry and Hohenheim followed the boy in.

"How many?" Roy asked seriously. "How good?"

"That's a little premature of you Colonel." Olivier pointed out. "You need your own men here first."

"Right." Roy walked over to the phone and started making calls. Alphonse gave his parents hugs, holding on desperately. Olivier pulled out a map and some sheets of important information.

_It's been a slow process,_ Olivier thought, _but the final pieces are finally falling into place…._

**-break-**

"William, go." Hohenheim of the Light told him.

"What?" William looked confused.

"It's time." William nodded and left.

"What was that!?" Dante hissed, appearing from around the corner to watch the homunculus disappear into the distance.

"Your time is up." Hohenheim grinned at her. Dante frowned and retreated back to her lab.

"Louis! Ilandere!" Dante called. Soon a brown haired man with dull, golden eyes and Ilandere appeared. "Louis, I need you to ready the alchemists and the chimeras, there is an attack coming. Ilandere, first I need you to gather up the Pairs around here and put them to work, then I need you to watch over Edward and bring him to the circle in thirteen hours."

"It will be done." "Sure thing." Both disappeared.

**-break-**

"Sorry we're late!" William called as he stepped into Roy's living room with Fuhrer Bradley slung over his shoulder. "The dumb high counsel took some convincing to believe that we're having a national emergency."

"Could you put me down?" Bradley half moaned.

"Sure!" William dumped him unceremoniously onto the ground.

"William Elric." Hohenheim seemed a little stunned by this development.

"Heya!" William waved and sat down on the floor. "So what are you guys up to?"

"We just finished devising our strategy, incorporating your advice into it of course." Breda answered.

"We've got twelve and a half hours." William told them.

"What?" Roy looked at him, confused.

"That's how long it takes Dante to set up the transmutation. She may take a little longer because she is involved, but don't count on that." William looked extremely serious.

"I'll get the alchemists in place." Olivier stood up.

"I'll lead the initial party." Bradley offered. "I know my way around the city."

"What about you?" Trisha asked William.

"I'm going to try and stall Dante." He had a sad smile.

"Are you okay?" Alphonse asked.

"He's not." Roy said, his eyes holding understanding. "He's about to go and face his death."

-----------

What the hell is going to happen to William, the seemingly immortal one!? Will the forces they have be enough? Will I update in a timely manner? Only if you review!


	24. Edward

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Recap: Preparations are complete, now it is time to fight.

Other Stuff: Hope everyone had a good holiday! And this is the second to last chapter. For your enjoyment, its long, _extremely_ long. And my presents this year distracted me from actually sitting down and writing this, so I am really sorry about the delay. Please bear with me. And thank my beta, ehxhfdl14, she did all of you a big favor this chapter (beyond betaing it that is).

Chapter 24: Edward

Dante glanced around her lab, looking for something. Her eyes fell on a small box, making her mouth contort into a smirk. She picked the box up and held it up in the lamplight.

"Come if you dare, Envy." She said gently, as if talking to a child. She set the box aside and painted a large, complicated circle onto the floor. With a snap, she opened the box and sprinkled a little of the ash on the circle. With a quick clap of her hands, the ash spread around the circle and combined with the paint. She set the opened box by the door.

"Because I'm not afraid of you." Dante hummed as she walked over to her notes and went to work preparing the circle for Edward.

**-break-**

"She has Pairs at her disposal, not a whole lot, but enough to give us-" Bradley began.

"Do you doubt our abilities?" Trisha accused him. "Between us, Hope, and Sniper, her Pairs do not stand a chance."

"I hope you're right." Bradley seemed unsure.

"Now is not the time for doubt." Olivier insisted. "Me and my forces will do what we can to keep her alchemists under control."

"You don't know how to hold an offense." Roy reminded her.

"We don't need an offense, we need to buy you time." Olivier gave him a look.

"What's with the unconscious guy, chief?" Havoc asked having just stepped out of the room holding the alchemic forces.

"One moment." Roy stood up and went into the room, looking at the unconscious body of Richard Hawkeye. With a deep breath, Roy clapped his gloved hands, activating a different part of the circle, and then placed them on Richard's chest. Accompanied by a loud crackle, Richard suddenly jerked up into a sitting position. Roy's knees buckled and he fell out of exhaustion.

"Idiot!" Richard hissed, catching Roy's wrist before he completely fell to the floor.

"Go see your daughter." Roy hissed back at his teacher. Richard's emotions swam unpleasantly and he then nodded, knowing that what had already happened could not be undone. Carefully, Richard laid Roy back down to the floor. He pulled himself off the bed and turned to Havoc.

"Take care of my idiotic pupil, will you?" Richard walked past Havoc into the next room. Hohenheim's eyebrows rose in mild surprise; Richard gave the man a nod in acknowledgement. Richard's eyes quickly traced the room, landing on Riza.

"Your name is Riza Hawkeye." He remarked casually, all his attention directed at his daughter. She gasped, suddenly remembering the voice of the man.

"Papa?"

**-break-**

Ilandere walked down the halls of cages, unlocking as she went. She was uttering promises, arguments, and threats to persuade the prisoners to fight for Dante's cause. It was somewhat tedious work, but Ilandere was efficient. Within two hours all the Pairs had been released into the city, waiting for enemies to ravage.

With a small humph, Ilandere went back into the building to Edward's cell. It was no surprise to see the boy sitting on his bed, looking at the ceiling, anxious. Ilandere knew why; as a Part, Edward was faintly aware of what his Other Half was doing and feeling at all times. She knew that Roy was coming down here for Edward, and she knew Edward was aware of this, even if only faintly.

"My baby." Ilandere cooed. Edward's glaze carefully fell from the ceiling, resting on her eyes. His face lost its anxiety and held a steady calm. With a moment to gather his bravery, Edward shook his head definitely, mouthing the word 'never'.

"You're being silly!" Ilandere approached him, her arms outstretched in a welcoming manner. Edward shook his head again.

"Trisha Elric." He shut his eyes and remembered his mother. "Hohenheim Elric. Roy Mustang. You're not one of them."

Ilandere was flung against the wall, she gasped as the breath left her lungs. "You hurt me and she'll kill Roy!" Ilandere hissed. Edward gave her a questioning look. He shrugged and flopped onto his bed. That is how they began their wait.

**-break-**

Louis Elric walked down robotically, into a dark, dinky room. In there sat several men, all looking irritable.

"It is time to fight." Louis told them.

"Fight what? I'm sick of fighting." One of the men whined. He had graying hair and old eyes.

"Why, Marco? Fighting is fun!" Another man, much younger with yellow eyes and long, blue hair grinned at his companion.

"I can't fight." A third man reminded everyone. He had short, orange hair and glasses.

"Tucker, you have chimeras!" The yellow eyed man reminded him. "Just use those!"

"Kimbley! We shouldn't fight!" Marco cried hopelessly to the yellow eyed man.

"It is time to go." Louis told them again.

"Let's go Marco, I don't want him to start insisting again." A fourth man with a dark tan and pointy mustache reminded Marco. "Unless you want to get anal raped, then be my guest."

"Grand-" Marco began his protest then cut himself off. With a sigh he stood up and followed Louis and the others up into the city proper. Marco grimaced, not liking the situation one bit.

_I would have never learned alchemy if I knew it would lead to this…._ Marco thought to himself. He wanted nothing more than to die, and perhaps today would be the day he got his wish.

_I hope whoever is coming in can withstand those chimeras…._ Marco didn't wish anyone to encounter one of Tucker's creations. They were wild beasts -no- monsters.

**-break-**

Richard was holding his daughter while she cried in his arms. They had too much lost time between them, a dolor for them both. Jean had hauled Roy back into the room so that he could lie on the couch. Afterwards Jean walked over and began to rub small circles in Riza's back, reminding her that he was there.

"I'm sorry that this couldn't have been during a happier time…." Richard mumbled; he had never been good with words.

"You won't be going away again, right Papa?" Riza asked him, a desperate edge in her words.

"Assuming we both survive," Richard's eyes told her not to question that comment, "then I will be here, with you and your Other Half until I die."

"Thank you Papa." Riza smiled, relaxed, and stood up again. Carefully, she pulled herself together, once again becoming the soldier, the Fighter Unit of the State.

Hohenheim Elric sighed, more than slightly exasperated with Roy.

"Wake me in an hour." Roy announced to the room then proceeded to take a nap.

"Eh?" Olivier was puzzled with Roy's behavior.

"Whenever he gets some rest he wakes up completely regenerated as if nothing happened." Maes explained. "It was really weird when he got his hand slammed in the train door, took a nap, and the bruise was gone when he woke up!"

"Sounds like a spell." Trisha muttered. "Did this start happening after an encounter with my son?"

"Come to think of it, I…Yes." Maes remembered Roy's sudden miraculous recovery.

"Definitely a spell." Trisha nodded. "We'll have to have a word with our boy." Hohenheim nodded in agreement.

"Let's go." Olivier announced and stood up, her eyes flashing.

"Major General!" Maes gasped, pointing at Roy desperately.

"That's not an issue." Bradley assured the man quickly. "I'm going to head back to Headquarters and pick up a few people; I'll just wake him and take him down with me."

"Sir?"

"He's not the only one with a set of subordinates that would follow him into Hell and back without hesitation." Bradley grinned. "Do you honestly think you can hold a position at the top without that sort of support?"

"No sir." Maes blushed in embarrassment.

"Good luck Colonel Hughes," Bradley smiled at Maes' shock of his sudden promotion, "because you're going to need every bit of it when you arrive in Hell."

**-break-**

Fuhrer Bradley had been right; they had just walked right into a living Hell. Monsters lurked the streets, baring fangs and a nasty disposition of consuming human flesh. Their elusive forms slid from shadow to shadow, making them difficult to see. With quick, precise shots the monsters were kept at bay. Izumi sighed and walked past the first line of defense, earning gasps of horror and amazement from her comrades. She frowned, clapped her hands and then kneeled, slamming her palms to the ground. There was a tense pause. Suddenly sparks and arcs of blue alchemical energy erupted violently from the ground! Hands of earth rose up in mighty fists, then came slamming down onto the awestruck monsters below. Blood, intestines, and other foreign, gory innards squelched out from beneath the now-bloody fists of earth.

Izumi grimaced at the sight and was soon overtaken by a violent cough. With an amazing amount of speed for a man his size, Sig rushed over and held his coughing wife. He offered Izumi some of her medicine while she struggled to get her coughing under control. With one last terrible cough, blood came up her throat and spattered on the ground, making the soldiers behind her gasp, believing she was injured. A single raised hand stopped the soldiers from rushing out to Izumi, mainly because it was her own hand. She stood tall again and shook her head at them, her expression clearly telling them this was not their fault.

"Come on." Izumi said after a short pause. "There are more of these things for us to take care of." She turned around and started to head further into the city with anymore prompting; Sig followed at her heels.

"Yes, ma'am!" Came the chorus from behind her. Faithfully, the soldiers stood and marched after her, making sure to cover her at all times.

If those poor soldiers had been paying more attention to what was happening around them in their immediate vicinity, they would have noticed the chimeras coming up from behind. Then maybe, they would have had a chance to defend themselves when the monsters leaped on them and bit their necks.

Izumi spun around at the unmistakable sound of bones crunching and flesh squishing and tearing. She looked onward, trapped temporally in horror as the troops on the outskirts of her unit were literally eaten alive. The monsters were quick and messy about eating their meals, making the other soldiers around them unable to attack. This was because the innards of their comrades were being spewed and tossed around, landing without care on their faces and uniforms. The wet 'squish's and 'plop's that the bits of persons made when they landed didn't help matters in the least. It was no surprise that most of the men were reeling.

With a changing growl, Izumi clapped her hands again and slammed them onto the ground, again transmuting the ground.

_I will not lose!_

**-break-**

For Maes Hughes and Olivier Armstrong, life just got complicated. No, wait- it got insanely confusing and erratic in a matter of seconds. They and their troops had been carefully creeping into the city when they heard a loud "Hey babies!" from above. The speaker was a wild-looking man with long blue hair and crazy, yellow eyes. Beside him was a monstrosity of a man, revealing Alex (Olivier's younger brother) in muscle mass. He had the world's pointiest handle bar mustache and no eye brows, which did not complement his complete baldness.

"What the-!?" Maes managed before the yellow eyed man started to insanely cackle as he jumped off the building, running his hand down the side of it as he fell. Olivier's eyes widened when she saw the transmutation arcs flying from the falling alchemist.

"Take cover!" She managed as she flung herself bodily to the ground without a second thought. She was one of the lucky ones to have done so. The unlucky ones had the debris come raining down on them, impaling a few, smashing and/or crushing various parts of others. Maes fell into the category of the even luckier ones; he felt the wind and the heat from the explosion, but nothing else. Cautiously, Maes lowered his arms to assess the damage. It was a grim report. Most were injured, and a good few were dead.

The bespectacled man let loose a feral growl and pulled out his hand knives. Kimbley charged forward, raising his deadly palms into the air, shrieking in wild joy as he went. Of course Kimbley had not been minding his feet, which gave Olivier an opportunity to strike. She slammed her knuckles into the ground, creating spikes and sudden inconsistencies in the terrain. She smirked as Kimbley tripped and fell down onto her nasty spiky pit. Miraculously he was relatively unscathed from the experience, the spikes having missed everything vital. On the other hand, he now sported several cuts and scrapes from the experience.

In a surreal, horrifying moment, the madman rose up from the spikes, his angry aura thrashing around violently.

"I love to blow up bitches like you." He said with a twisted smile on his face as he approached Olivier. She grimaced, and then snatched a glance of the man still standing at the top of the building. He had just now finished putting on a large pair of gauntlets. Gracefully, he jumped down and smashed his gauntlets to the ground with an unusual amount of care.

"Fuck." Olivier managed before guns came ripping out of the ground behind her. As soon as a gun was transmuted enough into existence it began to shoot, the lot of them proceeding to mow down all the still living troops behind her. There were a few that still clung to their lives, huddled on the ground, but they were trapped beneath a sea of bullets.

A streak of sliver crossed her vision; it was one of Maes' throwing knives. The knife hit Kimbley's right shoulder, sinking in with a squelching sound. With another stroke of his insanity, Kimbley grabbed the knife and pulled it out of his shoulder, transmuting it all the while.

"I like bombs." He informed everyone as he threw the newly-made bomb at the feet of Olivier and Maes.

"Fuck." They managed before the knife-bomb landed.

**-break-**

Edward sat up when he felt the building rattle under the stress of the explosions. He blinked once, realizing that Kimbley had been let out to play. He rolled his eyes and flopped back down on the bed, knowing that Roy hadn't moved recently and wasn't involved. Ilandere only raised an eyebrow at the behavior.

**-break-**

William, son of Hohenheim (of the Light) had been alive in the un-aging, nearly invincible form of a homunculus for the last 400 years. In this time he had learned many things about this form. He had the inhuman strength, speed, and ability to shape shift, along with the ability to quickly regenerate. The average onlooker would say he was immortal. But William, along with everything else he had been blessed with, was too smart for that. He wasn't immortal; he was just insanely hard to kill. What granted his near immortality were red stones, imperfect versions of the Philosopher's Stone. Like the actual Stone, they were made with living humans, just not as many. These minor Stones provided the energy he needed to regenerate himself, no matter how fatal the injury. If he used up all the stones inside his body regenerating, however, he would die. But having consumed 400 years worth of stones and not taken enough damage to dent that amount significantly, William couldn't be effectively killed that way.

It was the alternative he feared, the very thing he would have to face. When exposed to the remains of the person they were supposed to be, a homunculus grows weak. With the correct transmutation circle, you can either seal the homunculus, or make them cough up red stones. William knew his 'mother' would do the latter. She would want him to suffer for disobeying her. His plan was to sacrifice himself, buying time by forcing Dante to make him hack up 400 years' worth of stones, and draining her energy by making her transmute for an extended period of time.

"William." Hohenheim of the Light appeared beside him. They were standing right in front of Dante's lab.

"Father." He acknowledged his creator and parent for the first time. Hohenheim hugged him.

"I love you." The ghostly man whispered, sounding desperate.

"I love you too." William told his father quietly. "Thank you for not giving up on me."

"Thank you for coming to your senses." Hohenheim gave him a sad smile and slipped out of the embrace. Both turned and faced Dante's door.

"Let's do this!" Hohenheim told his son with a long forgotten spark of youth.

"Together." William reminded his father with a wink. He took a deep breath, pulled back the handle and threw the door open.

"Hello my son." Dante greeted him, smirking evilly.

**-break-**

Bradley opened the door to Roy's house a tall, muscular man following him. The man was bald and had a blonde mustache, and… pink sparkles?

"Fuhrer sir, aren't we breaking in?" The man inquired, his uniform telling the world he was a Major.

"No, Major, we are not." Bradley assured his comrade.

"It was careless for him to have left his door unlocked!" The man insisted, the amount of sparkles around his head was increasing.

"He wasn't the one that left it unlocked." Bradley assured his Major again. "Major Armstrong, would you wake him?"

From Roy's perspective, he had been sitting beside Edward on a bed in an insanely white room. Neither had said anything, there hadn't been anything they needed to say. All Roy did was rub small, comforting circles on Edward's back. Edward relaxed beneath the touch, savoring the moment while he could.

Next thing Roy knew he was lying on his couch back in his house, hearing a booming-

**"Wake up Colonel Mustang!!"**

Roy's eyes jerked open taking in a shirtless, muscular man with lots of pink sparkles. He recognized the fellow as Major Armstrong, Major General Olivier Armstrong's younger brother.

"Dammit." He muttered, not happy about that. The only benefit to waking up was getting closer to Edward.

**"Come, young Colonel!! We must rush to our comrades' aide in the glorious Battle for Old Central!!"** The Major explained in his booming voice (which was heard down in Old Central making everyone stop, blink once, then go back to whatever they had been doing, pretending nothing had happened).

"Sure thing," Roy muttered as he sat up, "after I put on a shirt. Wait! Who took my shirt!?"

"I think that Second Lieutenant Breda did." Bradley answered honestly. "I couldn't tell you why."

"I could." Roy shook his head, remembering the inside joke. "But now's not the time for that." He jumped to his feet and rushed to find himself a shirt and his uniform jacket. Bradley and Armstrong waited patiently for Roy to return, clothed again.

"Let's go get Edward!" Roy yelled, getting into a fighting sprit as he rushed out the door with the Fuhrer and Major at his heels.

**"To Edward!!"** "To the Other Half!" The three men jumped into the back of the military truck. Said truck took off the moment their feet hit the bed. Roy had a determined expression on his face.

_I'm coming Edward!_

**-I was going to end it right there, but my beta decided to maul me on your behalf.-**

Breda was standing atop a building surveying the battles that were unfolding before him. He bore an grim expression that complemented the equally grim situations perfectly. Fuery was couched at the man's feet listening in and relaying orders.

"We've lost contact with the Major General and Hughes." Fuery reported.

"Send backup their way, they need whatever we can give them." Breda told them.

"I'll go." Richard Hawkeye stood up, pulling on a pair of gloves.

"You!?" Both soldiers gasped. Richard Hawkeye was not exactly in shape; in fact, he was rather scrawny and sickly looking.

"They need an alchemist, and I'm willing." Richard told them.

"We have other alchemists that are-" Breda protested.

"I can be helpful in a way much quicker than they." Richard walked up to the edge of the roof and held his hand out, poised and ready to snap his fingers. "And now the world will see the fruits of my research."

"Sir?" Breda asked, worried. Riza had charged him with the responsibility of taking care of her father for him. Richard smirked and snapped his fingers, releasing a spark into the air.

"This is the most powerful kind of alchemy." The spark disappeared in the mass of alchemic arcs that were focusing around it. "Its most effective application is warfare." Suddenly the arcs disappeared.

**Boom!!** The ground beneath the feet of Grand, the menacing gun-transmuter, exploded. From where the small band of soldiers responsible for orchestrating the battle stood atop the roof of the lone building, cheers erupted, their volume echoing all over the city. Soon the soldiers on the ground joined their cries, moral again swinging upwards and soaring.

Richard smirked again.

**Snap! Boom!!** Chimeras around Izumi's men exploded.

"Uhh, just keep that up sir." Breda told Richard, feeling dumb.

"Sure thing."

**Snap! Boom!** The guns Grand had made were taken out.

"Shit!" One of the other soldiers guarding the roof top. "Ungh-rck!" He grunted as he fell over, dead. Richard turned around, his fingers ready to snap out the target. Standing on the roof was a newcomer with a sword that appeared to be made from some kind of crystal that was covered with the blood of the fallen soldier. He was old and tired, with bits of grey strands in his hair.

"I'm Hawkeye, yourself?" Richard asked the man.

"Marcoh." The crystal sword wielding man answered.

"I'm sorry." Richard told him.

"I am too." Marcoh bowed his head, and alchemic arcs shot from his hand, transforming his sword into a barrier. At the same time Richard snapped his fingers.

**Boom!!**

**-break-**

"I declare a battle of spells!" Hohenheim Elric, Riza, and Winry cried at the same time. All three Pairs released their Auras at the same time, covering half of the city. All the Pairs Ilandere had sent out were caught in the new battle.

"Definition of battle: Light, Hope, and Sniper are allies; their attacks do not harm each other." Hohenheim cast expertly. Riza and Jean were amazed by watching Hohenheim and Trisha fight.

"Shoes of Hermes for me and my friends!" Winry cried. Light blue feathers fell from the sky, shooting down and attaching themselves to the shoes of the Pairs Winry was working with. Soon everyone had feathered shoes.

"Shields of Hestia for me and my friends!" Winry cast again. Green clouds appeared and covered the mentioned people.

"Guidance of Nike for me and my friends!" Everyone felt more alert after Winry's spell.

"Eyes of the Hawk for me and my comrades!" Riza cried, quickly understanding the tactic Winry was using. Ghost-like red hawks descended on the groups, heightening their senses.

"Glasses are overrated; I don't need them to see." Hohenheim cast, earning an amused snort from his wife.

"About time you saw the light." She rolled her eyes.

"Definition of Battle: Trisha cannot insult me with bad puns." Hohenheim quickly retorted.

"The beginning and the end. Everything returns to Zero." Two young men approached the group. (1)

"Riza, attack." Jean told her.

"Bull's-eye." Riza shot her hand out, sending red targets onto Zero.

"How boring. Shatter!" The one with the long teal hair spoke, making a nearby window break, sending shards of glass onto Jean and Riza.

"Wooden barrier, protect!" Winry cast her spell, making a barrier stop the glass. The other boy hissed at this, his red curls bouncing.

"Kill them." The Sacrifice of Zero ordered.

"Thousands of Nettles of Pain!!" The teal haired Fighter Unit cried, sending white nettles raining down on Riza and Jean.

"Your nettles do not wound; they are but drops of rain." Hohenheim smirked. "Blizzard of sorrow!" 

"What kind of attack-" The Sacrifice was cut off by the blizzard of dark blue snowflakes wrapping around them.

"Target-seeking missiles!"  Riza cried over the winds, making several missiles appear and rush towards Zero.

"Bind the target!" Winry cast again. Quickly the blizzard died down to reveal both Parts of Zero bound and cuffed by the white chains of pain and suffering.

"Definition of Battle: there are no other alliances possible on this field." Hohenheim smirked, this was cake.

"Eternal darkness to smother the Light!" Another Fighter unit cast their spell, harsh and violent shadows rushing towards Trisha and Hohenheim.

"Bring on the Darkness; it will never smother the Light of my Hope!" Hohenheim cried back, a barrier stopping the darkness.

"Despair!" The Fighter Unit cast again. Blue light shined on the parents.

"My son's life is on the line, I have no room for despair in my heart." Hohenheim countered banishing the blue light.

"I see you." Riza cast, now seeing the Pair they were fighting. "Target. Aim. Fire."

There was a loud screaming from the other side of the building as Riza lit the next Pair on fire.

"Come on!" Alphonse cried; he and Winry running forward. "We've got to get them all."

"Let's split up." Jean recommended.

"And stay connected." Hohenheim added helpfully. And so they rushed off to their various battles within the giant Aura field.

_We're coming, brother!_

-----------

So, uh, who's winning? Any colorful commentary on how evil I am? My beta sure had a lot.

1- These are characters I just stole from Loveless because I was lacking some imagination at the time I wrote that.

Whoo for ten pages of material!


	25. Roy

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Recap: Izumi and some soldiers were getting overwhelmed by chimeras, but Richard blew a few of them up making it easier (maybe). Hughes and Olivier got hit by a direct hit with a knife-turned-bomb from Kimbley and afterwards Richard took out Grand and his guns (but was that too late?). William and Hohenheim of the Light are walking in for their final confrontation with Dante (are they going to their deaths?). Marcoh has appeared and was left dramatically starting a battle with Richard. Roy was woken up by Armstrong (ouch) and is on his way with Bradley and a few others. Lastly the Pairs Light, Hope, and Sniper have begun their fights and have now scattered across the city (will it be a united they stand, divided they fall scenario?). And where are Tucker and Lucas!?

Other Stuff: Here we are. The final chapter. School started up for me and my beta, so we've been a little busy to get on this, I hope you've enjoyed the story and that you drop one last review before you go. There will not be a sequel, but I will be writing another story soon. I haven't decided on pairings for it yet, but I am open to suggestions. And after this will be a quick special of Roy with a stick (I didn't forget you!) in place of an epilogue.

Dedication: This one is written for all those that stuck with me to see the end, thank you guys!

Chapter 25: Roy

After the chimera problem was cut down significantly, Izumi and her remaining soldiers rushed towards Hughes and Olivier, knowing the two would be needing help. Two men sitting on a nearby bench stopped the procession. One had orange hair and the other had dull gold eyes.

"So you're the lot that's been giving Ms. Dante all this trouble." Tucker remarked causally, sounding more threatening than he actually was.

"Dante!?" Izumi gasped, remembering her alchemy teacher. After a pause, she shook her head and said nothing.

"Do you know how a homunculus is born?" Tucker asked her, smiling kindly. "It's born when an alchemist fails trying to bring someone back to life."

"No." Izumi stepped back.

"You turned your baby boy into a monster, aren't your proud?" Tucker asked her, continuing to smile. "Then you abandoned him, left him all alone on an island. You're such a good mother."

"Bastard!" Sig cried, lunging forward and slugging Tucker. The scrawny alchemist went flying, landing on the ground with a dull 'crunch', his neck bent at an unnatural angle with his expression frozen in agony and fear. Lucas glanced over at the man, blinking slowly. In a surreal moment, Lucas stood up and walked over to the corpse. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and set it on the man.

"You fool!" Izumi cried, still frozen to the ground by Tucker's words. There was a small sizzle of alchemic energy, and the entire area was covered in purple light. The soldiers exchanged wary glances as they observed the forbidden alchemy while watching their backs. Arcs of energy shot out and touched the nearby solders. Screams, full of pure agony, burst from the victims. Izumi and Sig watched on in horror as black arms flew outward, greedily consuming whatever they could touch.

Snap! And like just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. Wounded soldiers fell to the ground, blood rushing like rivers from their newly made wounds. Several of the victims had entire holes carved out of their bodies, revealing bone and muscle alike. Crunching noises drove everyone to look at the re-animated Tucker, who was munching pleasantly on some red stones that Lucas was providing.

"Kill them!" One of the captains snapped to his senses enough to fire at Lucas, hitting the man's shoulder. Lucas feel forward onto Tucker, moaning in his immobilizing pain. Tucker stood up, brushed himself off, and then grinned. A red tattoo had appeared on the back of his right hand. Flashing alchemic energy, his skin turned black and shiny.

**"Let's play, humans."** He said, his voice gruff and grinding. Izumi stood up and wobbled over to face the man, her composure returning with each step.

"I'll destroy you, Sin." Izumi dropped into an offensive stance and motioned for the man to bring it on.

**-break-**

Kimbley went over to his so-called 'companion' and snorted. Stupid, pathetic Grand had gotten himself killed. Spinning on his heels, Kimbley turned and had a good look at the damage he had done to the duo he'd been fighting off. Olivier was on the bottom of the mess, her arm and leg mangled and burnt beyond recognition by the explosion. Maes was sitting further back, pretty much unharmed.

"Well, well, your girlfriend took the hit for you!" Kimbley laughed. "How-uck!"

Maes had cut off the monologuing alchemist by throwing a knife into the man's throat. Blood poured freely from the wound, coming out of Kimbley's mouth and nose as it got caught in his throat. He gurgled and spat blood in his attempt to talk. Pretty soon the man was swaying dangerously, his face paling significantly. Maes stood up and threw another knife, lodging it perfectly in the dying man's brain. More blood, more swaying.

Thump! Finally the alchemist collapsed, dead. Maes made a face at the still warm corpse and pulled his knives out. He walked over to Grand and slit the man's throat, assuring that he would not rise again. He walked over to Olivier and accessed the damaged done to her. She had been pretty badly burnt, and her arm and leg were as good as gone considering how charred they were. Her breathing was labored and her body showed every sign of exhaustion and then some.

"General?" Maes asked, hoping she was conscious.

"Yes?" She managed, her face contorting in pain.

"Why?" Maes asked.

"Elysia." Olivier opened her eyes and looked Maes in the eye. Earlier, on their way to Old Central, Maes had shared pictures of his daughter with everyone present (Olivier included). Her eyes told him everything, of how she was slightly jealous of his parenthood and that she wanted to keep his family intact and whole, even at the cost of her own life.

"Then live, live so she can thank you for saving her daddy." Maes told his wounded companion.

"Miles." She hissed. Maes was confused. Was she asking for a medic?

"I'm here, sir." One of the soldiers that had thrown themselves to the ground, surviving both the explosion and the bullets, arrived. He had a dark skin and red eyes, marking him as being of Ishbalan descendent. Maes said nothing as the man knelt beside the General, pulling out a first aid kit. It was then Maes realized he was wearing an Amestris uniform.

"I'll take care of her," Miles gave Maes a knowing look, "now you go and be useful elsewhere."

"I understand." Maes stood up.

"Sir!" A few voices chorused from behind. They were the soldiers that survived unscathed.

"Come with me." Maes ordered them, having the men follow him into the city but unsure what awaited them next. The remaining wounded started helping one another. Miles paused and looked at the carnage and destruction the small battle had caused.

"This is why Ishbala forbid us from using the devil's art; it just leads to messes like this." Miles told the General as he began to clean her wounds.

"Shut up." Olivier hissed back.

"Yes sir."

**-break-**

"You're an ungrateful boy." Dante told her 'son', frowning in disapproval. "I bore you into this world the first time, I made sure your father brought you back and since then I have done nothing but take care of you…. Is this your idea of rewarding me for all my hard work?"

"You thought that by sleeping with father, he would teach you more about alchemy, that you would become a favorite. When your careless sleeping around knocked you up, you decided to use me as leverage against him." William told her, reciting the truth of the story. "When I was eighteen you tricked me into drinking his mercury. Then you fed me that 'ether' that was supposed to heal me. That's how I died. You, mother dearest, murdered me."

"Who told you such a ridiculous notion?" Dante asked, seemingly offended.

"I remembered it." William said, flatly. "After I died you convinced him to turn me into a homunculus and when he refused to sacrifice the city and make a Philosopher's Stone for you, you went ahead and did it anyway. Then you sealed his soul to the city just so that he could watch you. Face it, you're a heartless selfish woman. You never spared me any love unless it was in alignment with your plans."

"I gave you _life_!" Dante was angry at the deep pain of the betrayal.

"You gave me Hell!" William snapped, transforming himself into a young version of her original body. Dante gasped, her eyes widening. She had once been a beautiful, powerful woman.

"The only person I love," William told her using what was once her voice, "is me."

Hohenheim of Light clapped his hands silently and stepped into the room. He inched towards the urn that held the ash of William's original body. Dante noticed the ghostly man in her room, watching him with her eyes narrowed.

"No." She said to Hohenheim, clapping her hands. She reached out and touched the wall, sending a single arc into it.

"Your selfishness is why I never taught you anything." Hohenheim told her, he looked at William. "I'm sorry my son, I wish I could have done more for you."

"You tried." William gave him a sad smile. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Hohenheim then let out a loud, mind-shattering wail. His form glowed a pulsing purple light, then with a final climax, there was nothing. No sprit nor a trace of it. Somewhere else in the darkness of Old Central, a wall with a blood red rune on it was cracked. Hohenheim of the Light, a man who had lived as a sprit for over 400 years, officially did not exist anymore.

"You're just a cruel bitch. You are not even a mother at all, let alone mine." William spat acidly at Dante.

"You two were always fond of getting the last word." Dante sighed and clapped her hands.

**-break-**

"I want all of you to listen," Bradley begun, "this is going to be by far the most dangerous mission you will ever involve yourselves in."

"Fuhrer..?" One of the men was a little wide-eyed at the thought.

"Our main objective would be to recover the Fighter Unit of Fullflame." Bradley gave Roy a meaningful nod. "But the other objective would be to kill Dante."

"Dante, sir?" One of the men asked.

"She is the one that caused the massacre of Old Central." Bradley explained, his look cutting off anyone who choose to argue. "Evil like her does not die easily."

"Shit!" The driver yelled and the truck veered. There was a sickening crunch as the truck smashed into a little boy. Everyone exited the truck to examine the damage. What they found was a young body with long black hair, unharmed on the ground. He was cadaverously pale and had unnatural violet eyes.

"Hello misters, do you want to play?" He asked them, sounding happy and cheery.

"Are you okay?" One of the men asked. The boy held out his arm and it turned into water. Quickly the water flew forward and wrapped itself around the men's head, suffocating him.

"I love this game!" The boy said, laughing.

"Too bad for you kid," Roy began, pulling on his glove, "water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, both make highly flammable gases."

"Eh?" Roy touched the boy's head and transmuted him, turning the water-kid into gas.

"Good-bye, homunculus."

**Snap!**

**Boom!**

**-break-**

Hohenheim Elric yawned. Before him lay another Pair, bound by the chains of defeat. Trisha was standing a little ways behind him, just as bored.

"I call a 20 second rest; I cannot cast spells for the next 20 seconds starting now. How many more, Trisha?" Hohenheim asked her, casting a specific spell to make himself heard.

"Two." Trisha held up the correct number of fingers to help assure he understood. "Hope and Sniper are fighting them off as we speak." Hohenheim nodded, content.

**-break-**

"Rip!" Winry was flung backwards into Alphonse from the blast. Alphonse caught her and they both winced in pain. A shackle was clasped around Al's wrist, sending constant waves of pain. Winry did what she could to hold off their attackers, but her talents lay in support and defense, not in combat.

"We need help." Alphonse told his Other Half, his face set in a determined frown. "Call for it."

"But we'll be exposed!" Winry gasped, fearful.

"We don't have a choice." Alphonse reminded her grimly.

**-break-**

"Snap apart!" Riza cried as she sent another spell at her opponents. The other Pair winced as Riza's spell smashed through their defense. "Eat lead!" Guns appeared from all around, they took aim and fired. White light streaked across the battle field, striking the other Pair. Once there, the white light shifted its shape and became chains. More and more chains clasped on the Pair, until both Parts fell to their knees, defeated.

Riza took a step back, panting with effort. Rapid fire spell casting was her specialty, but prolonged use of spells was not her forte, she was at the end of her endurance. Jean walked up from behind and held her upright.

"How many more?" He asked her gently.

"One." Riza breathed. "I can almost shut down this field." She managed a smile.

"We'll basically be useless after this, you know that?" Jean laughed, despite being right.

"I am well aware of that." Riza laughed too, not really caring. "I'm sure the others can take care of the last one."

"Me too."

**-break-**

"Break!" The other Pair cried, shattering Winry's barrier.

"Al!" She gasped as the shards turned white and locked onto Alphonse as more chains. The youngest Elric fell to his knees, moaning loudly in pain.

"When you knock down the foundations, the building crumples, you lose." Alphonse and Winry both started screaming in pain, binding chains covering their bodies. Defeat hurt, a lot.

**-break-**

"You are a fool, my child." Dante told William bluntly. She dashed up to him and touched his face, leaving small bits of ash on it. William was frozen, all of his strength pulled out of his body. His eyes were open wide with fear, a basic primal fear. Smiling, Dante pushed him onto the transmutation circle she had drawn on the ground. The black lines lit up with an eerie red glow when William touched it. He was trapped on the circle, his body functions suspending.

William, son of Hohenheim, reborn as the homunculus Envy, was sealed. Dante laughed.

"I bet you thought I'd make you hack up all your red stones." She grinned. "Well I don't have the time or energy right now, but I will afterwards. I bet your baby 'brother' will help."

William could still register what his senses provided him with. He could hear Dante move around the room picking up a few things, and it made him nervous.

"Unfortunately for you, I've planned ahead." Dante had a sickeningly sweet smile on her face that William did not see, but felt. "The circle is already done, it's just a matter of putting the pieces into place."

William heard Dante leave.

Then nothing.

**-break-**

"What the hell was that?" One of the soldiers in the Fuhrer's party asked when they arrived at the abandoned church. Roy gave the man a long, hard look. He Felt that the man was distressed because this was his first real encounter with _fear_. He wasn't coping well.

"You can't handle this mission." Roy told the man flatly. "You can't keep your emotions in check; following at this point will only hinder the rest of us. Go home."

"You can't decide that!" Another soldier cried, furious with Roy.

"I can Feel what you are feeling." Roy looked the new solder straight in the eye. "You're curious, curious of what is going on. You want to see this strange situation's end. Your curiosity burns within you, overpowering all of your other emotions, it keeps you stable."

"What the hell?"

"And you are afraid at the same time, afraid of the truths I am speaking, of the accuracy I use to describe your emotions. You are afraid of monsters like that boy, of monsters like me." Roy explained to the man in a condescending manner. "And yet you burn to know more, to find out the truth. And I'll tell you want, boy, you'll find what you are looking for soon. I'm sure it's not what you want."

"Brigadier Mustang!" Major Armstrong glared at the man, obviously not content with Roy's choice of behavior.

"I am Fullflame's Sacrifice. I can Feel the emotions of others around me and I can alter them a little. 'Empathy' is what it was labeled to keep the fear at bay, but what it really is, is me walking into your heart and fucking with it." Roy was deadly serious. "I am also an alchemist. I can do things with fire that are unnatural. I am a real walking freak show."

"Damn straight." Bradley cut Roy off, turning all the attention onto him. "We're up against freaks worse and far more twisted than you."

"_Worse_?" The first soldier breathed.

"If you can't accept me," Roy looked the man in the eye, "leave now."

"You don't scare me!" The first soldier screamed.

"You are in denial." Roy rolled his eyes.

"General, is there anything that can be done?" Bradley asked him.

"Well, he does have an honest desire to help you beneath that fear," Roy informed the Fuhrer, "but do realize if I mess with his emotions I might not be able to put him back together the way he was."

"What are you talking about?" Armstrong asked.

"As a Sacrifice I can alter emotions of those around me, especially my Fighter Unit. Normally I stay out of other people's souls, but I am highly capable of making exceptions." Roy explained quickly. "So, sir, how badly do you want to follow us on this mission?"

"You're going to alter my soul?" The man took a step back.

"Only if you decide you want to come with us. If you decide not to then I will do nothing." Roy left the man with the choice. "And do choose quickly, we don't have much time."

"Do it." The man said quickly, praying he wouldn't lose his nerve.

"Hold still." Roy sounded gentle and calming, his approach being the man into peace. Roy reached out, set his hands on either side of the man's face and locked eyes with him. Roy found himself falling into the other man's eyes, into his soul. Quickly, Roy found the man's desire to help, loyalty and trust of the Fuhrer, and his courage. Roy grabbed the three elements, tied them together and breathed some strength into them. Soon the man's other priorities outshined his fear. Roy receded from the man's soul, back into his own body.

"Let's go." Bradley said simply and started to walk into a doorway he just opened up.

"Sir!" The men followed their Fuhrer.

**-break-**

Richard glared at his opponent; Marcoh was hiding behind a large, crystal shell. Richard took in a breath and waited since he could not attack until the barrier went down. He studied Marcoh carefully, then realized. The man was fighting against his will, so to avoid hurting others he was stalling.

"Breda, shoot the barrier." Richard told the man. Quickly Heymans Breda pulled out his gun and started shooting at the crystal. It shattered, freaking out the unsuspecting Marcoh and making the man cower. A smile grew on Breda's lips when he realized what Richard was asking him to do. A hand shot to his belt, pulled out a gas grenade, pulled out the pin, then threw it into the hole in Marcoh's barrier. Smoke filled the shell, and Marcoh's hysterical giggling floated out the small hole.

"Laughing gas?" Richard was caught off guard by this one.

"Why not?" Breda countered.

"I supposed that's a good reason." Richard turned his attention back onto the battlefield. He frowned. "Shit."

"What the heck is that thing?" One of the soldiers pointed at Greed and Izumi fighting.

"I'm going down to deal with it." Richard announced, swinging himself onto the ladder and scrambling down before anyone could protest.

"Dammit!" Breda hissed, not liking that.

"I'm on it." Falman called to Breda as he swung onto the ladder after Richard.

"I guess that's alright…." Breda muttered, still feeling bad about it.

"Stop worrying about Hawkeye killing you, and help us plan this battle!" Someone reminded Breda.

"Right, right!"

**-break-**

Maes arrived in a large square with a crucifix and a transmutation circle painted on the ground. His eyes widened when he realized what the circle was and what it was for.

"That's right!" He muttered to himself. William had shown them how to alter the circle should they find it. Maes remembered what the circle had to be changed to well enough, but that wasn't the problem he had. What the heck was he going to use to repaint it with?

**-break-**

"Dammit!" Izumi muttered as she ducked beneath the sin's claws. She was tired and had recently had another coughing fit; this fight was not in her favor. She was losing rather quickly. Glancing around at the remaining soldiers, Izumi realized they would be of little help to her, not when they were scared like they were. She grimaced and attacked the sin again, feeling more and more useless.

"Eh?" The Sin was very suddenly on fire.

"Homunculi have the same molecular make up as a human being." Richard explained as he dramatically arrived at the battle scene with his hand ready to snap. "That shield of yours can't come from nothing, so it pulls the carbon from your body to produce the armor-like effect."

"Carbon?" Izumi realized that's what the shield was, Carbon, one of the hardest materials known to man.

"Which, with some persuasion, is highly flammable." Richard smirked. Sparking arcs came off his hand, turning the yellow flames to blue.

"Argh!" The homunculus let out inhuman shrieks as it was burned alive. It kept regenerating, only to add more fuel to the fire.

"Damn." Izumi smirked. "You're not bad at all old man."

"Thank you." Richard smiled, not paying attention to Greed. Greed smirked and approached the alchemist, then threw himself on him. Richard cried out, suddenly finding himself on fire, a fire that wasn't going to die quickly. Izumi gasped, upset, and unsure what to do. Suddenly the fire was out. Swinging her gaze around, Izumi saw Lucas kneeling on the ground, hand on a circle drawn with blood. The man was panting heavily, his golden eyes shining with life and fire.

"You're back." Izumi observed. Lucas smiled and used his blood to draw a different circle, making spikes that stabbed into Greed's regenerating shoulders. Richard used this time to crawl away from the homunculus, wincing all the while from the pain of his wounds.

"You seem used to that." Falman observed, arriving on the scene.

"If you play with fire, you're bound to get burned." Richard grinned. "I'm used to it."

Meanwhile, Greed broke free of his spiky restraints. He was growling and _mad._

"Any brilliant plans?" Izumi asked, her exhaustion catching up with her.

"I could try to light him on fire again?" Richard didn't think that was a good idea. Greed started to approach him, growling. "You know when you have death walking right up to you; it's not as scary as I thought it would be."

"No, it isn't." Izumi felt remarkably calm and at peace. Greed raised his claws up into the air, ready to slaughter the alchemists below him.

**-break-**

"Alphonse!" Trisha cried, a chain latching onto her wrist.

"Your attack ends here." Hohenheim growled, really angry to know his son had been defeated in battle.

"Hurry!" Trisha cried, running toward her son with her husband hot at her heels.

**-break-**

"Argh!" Jean cried, a chain shackling onto his wrist from out of nowhere.

"Jean!" Riza looked at him, full of concern.

"Dammit…." Jean muttered. "I can't stand."

"I'm going to stay here with you." Riza promised him.

"Waiting for your death, hmm?" A Pair stepped out from the shadows, their eyes glittering.

"Shit."

**-break-**

Greed was flung to the side when a stone spike violently crashed into the side of his head. Izumi and Richard both almost jumped up to see where the spike had come from.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Roy apologized, snapping his fingers and lighting the homunculus on fire.

**"Allow me, Comrade!"** Armstrong bellowed, ripping off his shirt. He slammed his iron knuckles into the ground and made an enclosure of stone around the burning homunculus.

"Damn, I wish we had thought of that…." Izumi muttered.

"Medics, take over." Roy called to the soldiers behind him. "You two, come with us, we're going forward." Roy pointed at two medics and started onward.

"Take care of yourself, brat!" Richard called after Roy.

"You too, old man!" Roy waved, him and a fresh wave of soldiers pressed forward.

"Good to see you back, Lucas." Bradley remarked casually as he approached the fallen Elric.

"It's been a while." Lucas admitted. "Watch her fall for me."

"I will." Bradley nodded and ran after the rest of the troops.

"What was that about?" Falman asked as he began to help Izumi dress her wounds.

"Later." Lucas waved them all off and grew quiet.

**-break-**

"Master!" Ilandere squealed when Dante stepped into the room. Edward turned and gave her a look of defiance.

"I'm taking you to see your Other Half." Dante smiled kindly, as if she had suddenly had a change of heart. Edward cocked his head to the side.

"Do you not want to see him?" She asked. Edward answered by standing up and walking up beside her, clearly ready to leave.

"Let's go then." Dante smiled and led the boy out of the room.

**-break-**

Maes fussed around, trying to find _something_ to alter the circle with.

"Gah!" He cried out in frustration, wishing for a miracle. Behind him he heard a crunching noise. Pivoting on the balls of his feet, Maes turned around to see a bit of the wall had fallen down behind him. Being a curious man by nature, Maes walked over and investigated the new hole. Through the gap he could see a blood red rune on a cracked wall.

"Blood?" Maes realized the rune was blood red because it had been actually drawn in blood.

"Wait, drawn in blood…." He shivered when he realized what he _did _have to draw with.

**-break-**

"You bastards will feel the damage you did to my son in double!" Hohenheim cried as he arrived on the scene, sending a wave of red energy at the Pair. They gasped as the spell came upon them, giving them no time to defend. Riza and Jean both let out breaths of relief. The Aura around them gave a shudder and fell.

The defeated Pairs lay strewn across the ground, useless. Hohenheim sat down and took in a few breaths. He gave Trisha a sad, apologizing expression.

"We're not as young as we used to be." She remarked mournfully and took a seat next to her husband.

"Are you two okay?" Riza asked.

"Just tired, that's all." Trisha waved them off. "No worse than yourselves."

**-break-**

Maes was contemplating using his knife on his hand when Ilandere arrived.

"Trisha? Where's Hohenheim?" He asked her, mistaking the woman for Trisha.

"He's back a ways, needed some rest." Ilandere pretended to be Trisha without missing a beat.

"Oh really?" Maes believed her.

"Now I need your help." Ilandere told him. Maes walked over.

"Yes-!?" Ilandere lunged forward and wrapped her fingers around Maes' neck, strangling him.

"Stupid, foolish human! You do not deserve to see the Master!" Ilandere told Maes as she dragged him towards the hole in the wall. "Bad, bad human!"

Maes fought her grip with everything he had, but it was useless. With an insane smile Ilandere threw him into the hole. There was an unpleasant crunch when Maes' arm was bent in an unnatural fashion, breaking it. Quickly, Ilandere began to seal the hole back up. Maes sat up as he watched his only source of light go away. Then he realized something else- that source of light was also his source of air.

_What a great way to die!_ Maes thought mournfully. Quickly he pressed himself up against the wall, trying to hear what was happening on the other side.

**-on the other side of Maes' room-**

Ilandere quickly pulled some carpets over the transmutation circle and set a chair in the place where Edward was to sit. Not too long after she was done Dante and Edward entered.

"Now I want you to sit here, patiently and wait with me. He'll be coming in soon." Dante assured Edward. The boy sat down and fidgeted with excitement, happy to _finally_ be reunited with Roy. Dante stood at the edge of the circle and waited patiently, smiling.

Rather suddenly, the doors were incinerated in a large ball of fire. Dante clapped her hands and touched the ground, making binds on Edward's chair and a gag wrap around the boy's mouth. Edward's eyes went wide as he began to struggle against his binds. He knew better than to say anything, noises were often powerful spells without real aim or meaning. Those kinds of spells would do more harm than good in a situation like this.

Roy walked into the room, holding his hand out, ready to snap. His onyx eyes scanned the room and met with Edward's golden ones. He felt the distress and disgust from Edward; the distress coming from being bound and the disgust with himself for falling into Dante's trap. Roy's eyes swerved to meet Ilandere's. He recognized the woman from Edward's memories. Roy hissed at her, angry with all the pain she had given Edward over the years. Then the onyx eyes traced the room one last time, to meet the green eyes of the kneeling Dante.

"So you're the one behind this." Roy remarked. He could sense that she was unafraid; in fact she was triumphant. "You're cocky." Dante let out a loud, amused laugh.

"When you've been around as long as I have, you'd recognize a moment of triumph." She told him, standing back up. "Ilandere, please."

"Sure!" The other woman squealed and ran towards Roy. Roy smirked and ducked to the side to reveal Bradley and Armstrong with a half a dozen men behind them. Armstrong grunted and caught Ilandere's clawed hand. She hissed at him and pulled her hand free. Her body began to shift and shimmer. Within a few minutes she grew goat horns, large fangs, tufts of brown fur and blue scales. Her hands and feet grew larger, turning into mighty, red bear-like paws. Armstrong and Bradley blinked once then shrugged and readied themselves for a fight.

"She's not like other chimeras," Bradley warned Armstrong, "she's got human intelligence and an assload of insanity."

"What does that mean?" Armstrong asked.

"It means she doesn't care if she gets hurt, it only drives her to kill." Bradley remembered watching a poor victim fall to Ilandere's chimera form.

"Well then, distance seems to be in order." Armstrong picked up a stone and punched it, transmuting it all the while. The now spiky missile rushed towards Ilandere. She smirked (or was it grinned in a bloodthirsty manner?) and sidestepped the projectile. As it passed by she batted it off course, sending it hurtling towards Roy.

Roy was not an unobservant, mono-focused soldier (like the poor extras that have been dropping like flies this entire battle) which is why he was able to deftly dodge the projectile. Lucky for him it did not steer towards either Dante or Edward. Roy gave Armstrong an exasperated look, then turned his attention back to Dante when she clapped. She smirked and sent hands of earth after him.

Quickly, Roy snapped his fingers and blew up the hands. Dante just smirked even more and made new hands much closer to him. Roy's eyes narrowed and he ran towards them. Dante didn't hesitate, making the hands lunge towards him to catch him. At the last possible second, Roy stopped and let the hands grab air, then continued to run past them before they could be reopened.

Dante raised an eyebrow and sent her hands back into the ground. This time they shot up right under Roy's feet. With a knee-jerk reflex, he jumped backwards off the hand, landing gracelessly on his behind.

"Owie." Roy mumbled childishly. Edward glared at his Other Half for being an idiot.

Dante chuckled at the display of idiocy, clapping her hands all the while. Roy growled and snapped his fingers. Dante dodged out of the way, letting the carpet catch on fire. She growled, clapped her hands again and put the flames out. She gave Roy a death glare. Roy shrugged off her glare and made his way towards her again. This time his interruption did not come from Dante, rather from Bradley. Specifically, Bradley's flying body smashing into Roy.

Ilandere, Armstrong, and Bradley had been going at it in close quarters while Roy and Dante were throwing alchemy at one another. It didn't take them too long to figure out that Ilandere was inhumanly strong, mainly because when Bradley put his sword in front of himself to block her upper cut, she just sent him flying. He wound up smashing into Roy, something had not been intentional on Ilandere's part, but extremely effective for stopping both men.

"Humph!" Dante clapped her hands and did some more alchemy. Roy and Bradley barely managed to sort themselves out and roll out of the way in time. Edward's chair made several distressing noises as the boy fought violently for his escape. Roy looked around trying to pinpoint the new source of distress for his Other Half. It did not take long for the onyx eyes to have a good look at the floor beneath the carpet. He recognized the transmutation circle immediately. Roy shot a glance over at the crucifix and took in the circles on it. He realized that in order to finish the transmutation Dante needed to get him up there.

_No wonder she's trying to trap me!_ Roy realized, scurrying out of the way of another hand. Pausing quickly, Roy began to plan. He knew she didn't want Edward dead, nor himself (at least until the transmutation was over); those facts alone gave him a few options. One option was to kill himself, which would in turn kill Edward and keep Dante from everything she wanted. Another option would be to aim attacks at Edward that she would try to protect him from. That tactic presented a problem in that Dante might catch on and find a counter. A third option would be running, though Roy wasn't sure that would be a smart or effective thing to do. He dodged about the hands, trying to think. He needed to throw Dante off guard somehow….

One of Armstrong's spikes missing his head by a matter of inches provided the needed inspiration. The last thing anyone would expect Roy to do right now would be to attack Ilandere, who was contained by Armstrong and Bradley, but they certainly weren't winning. Roy signaled discretely to the six men at the door to take aim at Dante and fire when he gave the signal. With a few long strides Roy was within lunging distance of Ilandere.

Edward cocked his head, his eyes narrowing as he observed.

Ilandere was hyper-aware of the activities around her, more so than Roy realized, and even more than Bradley would give her credit for. Unfortunately for her being in a crazed state prevented her from analyzing who it was that was approaching. All that registered in her mind was 'threat, back left three feet away'. Without warning the chimera spun around and slashed Roy's left eye.

Roy stumbled backwards, screaming in pain as his hands went up to cover his new wound. Dante was fuming. Eye wounds like that were often fatal.

**"You idiot!!"** She screeched at the chimera, clapping her hands and sending spikes at it. Ilandere stopped moving, the spikes holding her up sticking out of her body at awkward angles. On a few of the spikes appeared to be organs that had been violently pulled from her body. Blood and strange green liquid gushed down the spikes, turning them into some sort of morbid tacky-looking Christmas decoration. Dante was fuming; she continued to glare at the chimera even when it stopped twitching.

Bradley signaled his men on Roy's behalf. They nodded and fired, surprising the unsuspecting Dante with several pieces of lead boring into her flesh. She gasped, blood coming out of her mouth. She staggered.

"Damn humans!" She hissed, more blood pouring out of her mouth. Several of her bullet wounds were squirting blood as her heart struggled to keep beating. She glared at them with true hatred in her eyes, cursing them under every deity she knew. With a final stagger, she fell to the ground, not to rise again. Edward continued to trash, with added effort because of Roy's pain. Bradley heard the chair protesting loudly at Edward's abuse and remembered the boy.

Bradley realized that if there was anyone that could save Roy now, it'd be his Fighter Unit. Quickly Bradley rushed over and cut Edward's gag from his mouth. Edward gave Bradley a forgiving smile, showing the man he understood his past actions.

"These bonds do not hold me." Edward's bonds released. Quickly the boy leaped to his feet, running to Roy. He ignored the welts already forming on his wrists and ankles from all the thrashing he had done in the chair.

"Roy! Roy!" Edward cried, dropping to his knees and pulling his Other Half's head into his lap. Quickly the boy began to calm the convulsing man by running his hands through Roy's hair.

"Edward?" Roy asked, relaxing under the gentile touches of his Other Half. Edward bent down and kissed Roy, telling the man all he needed to know.

"Rest, love, rest." Edward urged Roy, knowing the spell he had already placed on the man. Roy sleepily closed his good eye and relaxed into sleep. Edward pulled Roy's hands from his face and frowned. He was glad to see the skin on Roy's eye had sealed up, but it left a scar. Nervous fingers ran over the wound, feeling for something they prayed wasn't there. Part of Roy's eye was gone; he would never be able to open it again to see. Edward shut his own eyes, cursing Dante for the damage she had done to them.

When Maes heard the gunshots it occurred to him he a gun as well. Since he knew that no one knew he was trapped on the other side of the wall, he would have to make his presence there known somehow if he wanted to be rescued. A gun would be perfect, Maes realized. It took him a while, fumbling in pitch dark, to find his gun and turn off the safety. He aimed at what he thought was the wall he had come in through and fired it.

No one on the other side was expecting a bullet to coming flying out of a nearby wall. It didn't get very far, having lost most of its power breaking through the wall.

_**"Help!!"**_ Maes yelled as loud as he could through the tiny bullet hole. Armstrong walked over and transmuted the wall, revealing Maes and the cracked blood seal. Maes took in a scene he wasn't expecting. Edward had Roy in his lap and was protectively fussing over the man, completely obvious to everything else. Three men stood around a tacky chimera decoration, pointing guns at it while three more stood around and pointed guns at Dante's bloody, mangled corpse. Bradley was standing near Edward, looking like he was going to personally run anyone through who dared disturb that private moment.

"Dammit, I missed everything." Maes whined.

**-break-**

Roy awoke to look at an unfamiliar white ceiling and that overly-clean hospital smell. He groaned, quickly realizing he was again inside a hospital. He sat up and realized that his left eye wasn't opening. Carefully touching it, he felt that it had been sewn shut. He also felt the scar and valley where part of his eye was missing. Roy sighed and tried to move his other hand to have both held his face. Upon inspection left hand was being held by another hand; Edward's hand.

The young man was sitting in a chair holding Roy's hand. It was obvious he had fallen asleep while waiting for Roy to wake, as the boy's upper body was propped on the bed. Immediately, Roy's expression softened, a feeling of peace overcame him. Absently, Roy began to play with Edward's loose hair, enjoying its sensation.

"I'm whole…." Roy muttered out loud when he realized it. He was finally _whole_, and there was no force in this world that could take Edward from his side now. That's all that mattered.

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Holy shit. The story is over.

I'm going to be doing an epilogue (because there are some loose strings I needed to tie). I was planning on incorporating them into this chapter, but I realized that they just weren't fitting properly. So instead of forcing it, I gave the story a natural conclusion and set myself up for an epilogue. There will also be a RoyEd lemon and the Roy with a stick scene. I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed up until this point for staying with me this long.

I'm of the opinion that an epilogue is designed to satisfy lose ends and what not, but is not necessary to give a story a satisfying end. Was this a good ending? If not, what should I change? Please let me know.

Thank you for reading and reviewing and just being awesome,

Bar-Ohki


	26. Epilogue Roy with a stick

**Fullflame**

**By: Bar-Ohki**

Disclaimer: If the situation has not changed for the last 25 chapters, it sure as heck is not going to change this one.

Other Stuff: I wound up writing an epilogue anyways…. No, there is not a sequel to this story, but there will be another story of a similar nature up not too long after this. It's a Harry Potter cross-over, but I'm not mixing the characters, just the concepts form Harry Potter and putting them into the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. I am also expanding on the concepts from Harry Potter and going into them more in-depth. There's a preview at the end.

Dedication: ehxhdl14, my most awesome and thoughtful beta reader. This one's for you! Because you put up with me baiting you when I was writing and talking to you on instant messenger, and you put up with me getting stressed and angsty. Thank you so much for sticking it out with me!

And thank you my reviewers and readers! I love you guys!

Epilogue

The world was changing, there was no other way to put it.

Roy and Edward were sitting on a bench in Central's Center Park. Roy had just been released from his four week stint in the hospital because his therapy was finished, and so the Pair was enjoying some real alone time for the first time in both their lives. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the cool breeze carried the delicious smell of fresh crepes. Both men were reflecting on the news they had heard that morning.

Apparently after the battle with Dante was over, Breda released a Tim Marcoh from the laughing gas. Marcoh was told that the battle was over and that he could surrender any time. The alchemist had been delighted with this news and then went on to inquire if he could raid Dante's laboratory with any other alchemists they found that were willing. Because the willing alchemists were for the most part wounded, it was decided the raid on Dante's lab would be put off until they were in better shape.

The following week the Elric family spent mourning Hohenheim of the Light. His blood seal was promptly discovered and removed from the wall. They took it up to the surface and burned the blood off it, letting Hohenheim's sprit enjoy the sun one last time.

After the mourning period was over after, Tim Marcoh, Izumi Curtis, Richard Hawkeye, and Lucas and Hohenheim Elric descended the steps of Old Central. When they found her laboratory they also found William appearing to have passed out on some strange transmutation circle. Izumi promptly identified this circle as one that was designed to seal a homunculus. Shortly afterwards William was removed and his face was cleaned off of the ashes.

William was extremely helpful in disclosing where and what everything was in Dante's lab. He even pointed out the small remaining piece of the Philosopher's Stone to them, but that information came with a catch.

"…Could you use it to make me human?"

Richard and Izumi had the most experience with the forbidden arts of alchemy, and both decided it was the fairest thing they could do with the legendary amplifier. After about two weeks of reading through both Dante and Hohenheim of the Light's notes the transmutation was preformed. William was again a living, feeling human, with an ability to shape shift rather than the usage of alchemy. It wasn't as useful an ability as it once was since shifting now took a lot of effort, almost more than it was worth (in William's opinion anyhow).

Hohenheim and Trisha Elric decided to adopt William, since he was technically a part of the family. Edward had been particularly happy to hear this as William was now officially his brother. It had made Roy happy too, not just because it made Edward happy, but because family of Edward's was family of Roy's.

After the re-humanizing of William now-Elric, the Fuhrer decided to lift the alchemy ban on the country. With the lifting of the ban, he explained that Amestris could not afford to be ignorant of matters such as alchemy. It was still not encouraged to do alchemy and many frowned upon it, but the people were very much in accord with the idea of not being ignorant. William assured the Fuhrer that in a few generations all of these cultural bumps would be smoothed out. And with William being over 400 years old, the Fuhrer decided he was probably most qualified to make that prediction.

The other thing the Fuhrer did was hand out some much deserved promotions. Roy was now a Brigadier General and all of his subordinates had been promoted, even Sniper. After the paperwork for Roy's promotion had gone through the ugly controversy revolving around the enlistment of Edward Elric reared its head again. The Fuhrer said that the current laws would be upheld and Edward was, in fact, going to enlist as a Brigadier General. But it was not an unconditional enlistment. Edward would have to complete basic training and a little bit of Fighter Unit training before he could officially enlist. He also had to have a cram course on the responsibilities and duties of a Brigadier. And finally, when enlisted he would not be given the complete authority of his rank. It was barely enough to pacify the high command.

Roy proposed another suggestion to the high command (since he was now a member), which was to write a law stating that Pairs could not be Fuhrer and that their ranks only took up one person's slot rather than two people's. 'We're basically extensions of the other….' Roy had argued. This earned Roy some good graces and gave several others peace of mind.

Hohenheim and Trisha announced they would be willing to come back to the military under the condition they would be under Roy's command. The Fuhrer accepted the condition and re-enlisted them as Second Lieutenants (which had, much to the chagrin of Riza and Jean, been the rank they held before they disappeared). Edward and Alphonse both expressed how weird they thought it was to see their parents in uniform. Roy then countered Edward's feeling by pointing out how weird he thought it was to see Edward in a general's uniform. Needless to say, that conversation was never brought up again.

Alphonse and Winry stated they would be willing to enlist if they didn't have to go through the hellish training program. Upon bringing that up, the Fuhrer decided the program needed to be looked at and re-evaluated. The intensity of the program was lowered and parent-Pair contact was restored. A new part was added into the program by the suggestion Roy Mustang, which was to have new Pairs spend some time living with older, more experienced Pairs to learn the mechanics of fighting and spells. What this meant was that older Pairs could still enjoy the raising of children, without having any of their own.

In other news about Alphonse and Winry, it was discovered that the two weren't really a traditional Pair. Winry was more of a Support Unit than a Fighter Unit, which is what she insisted she be called. With her range of spells they could boost the abilities of other Pairs she allied herself with, but alone Winry was terrible at attacking. The government decided they would explore this new set of possibilities, in a humane way of course.

"Roy." Edward said suddenly, bringing both men out of their musings.

"Yes?" Roy turned and looked at his Other Half. Edward pointed at his tight leather pants, which at the current moment were especially tight. Roy blinked once.

"You're hard." Roy remarked, amused. Edward blushed and nodded. He gave Roy a pleading look.

"Oh, so you want me to help you?" Roy teased, enjoying this relaxed moment. Well that was until Edward glared at him and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Roy!" Edward whined, moving himself onto his Other Half's lap to straddle him. Roy's eye went wide.

"Um, here, now, in front of everyone?" Roy glanced around, noticing that they were far from alone in the park and that people were staring.

Edward licked Roy's earlobe in response, making Roy shiver in pleasure.

"Not here, please." Roy breathed; Edward was now running a hand under Roy's shirt and driving the grown man crazy with his casual touches.

"Roooy." Edward drew out his Other Half's name in a long, husky moan. The younger man was grinding his hips slowly against Roy's, making the other man harden.

"Dammit Edward!" Roy fussed, trying not to get excited. "We can't do this here!" Roy pushed his fear of shame and humiliation into his Other Half, hoping to get a different reaction from the horny boy. Edward backed away, frowning.

"We'll finish this at our home, okay?" Roy offered quickly. Edward responded by giving one last grind against Roy's hips and climbing off the man.

"You just like having the last word don't you?" Roy hissed, now completely hard. Edward smirked and started walking towards the car. Roy glared and followed, well aware that everyone else in the park had been watching. Roy wasn't a bad driver before he lost his eye, but now he had some difficulty with it. And now that he and his Other Half were horny and wanting to start up their much delayed sex lives, it made Roy's driving downright dangerous. They did get home in one piece and only at the expense of two mail boxes.

Both men practically ran into the house, almost destroying the front door in their hurry to get inside. The kind, old lady next door watched this, and then rambled on to herself about the sweetness of 'young love', disturbing many a passerby.

Once inside the house Roy crashed his lips onto Edward's moaning slightly as the blissful feeling he was experiencing washed over him. Edward cut the kiss off far too short, making Roy frown.

"For the next four hours, I cannot cast spells. Starting now. Ah, that's better." Edward grinned. Roy grinned back.

"I'm going to make your scream until you lose your voice." Roy promised Edward.

"Bring it on." Edward grabbed Roy's jacket and pulled it off at this. Roy mentally chuckled at Ed's eagerness. Roy returned the desire by pulling Edward's black jacket and tank top off. Teasingly, Roy ran his fingers over Edward's Name, making the younger one shiver and moan. It was a loud, throaty moan, which made Roy wonder how the hell Edward could suppress that sort of thing. During that musing of Roy's his button-down shirt had been removed.

Edward kissed Roy again, running his hands over his Other Half's Name. Roy moaned into Edward's mouth as he shivered and grew painfully hard.

"Okay, I need to lose the pants." Edward explained when he cut the kiss off. Roy understood why, since Edward's pants weren't as stretchy and forgiving as his. Roy quickly took off his own pants, sighing in relief when his hardness was allowed to stand completely out. Edward had a little difficulty getting out of his tight, tight pants. But once free Edward's entire posture relaxed.

"That feels so gooood…." Edward moaned out the last word, driving Roy nuts with his antics.

"That's it!" Was all the warning Edward received before Roy lunged and picked him up. Quickly Edward was carried to the bedroom and deposited on the bed while Roy pulled off his boxers and grabbed a bottle of lube.

"You don't like foreplay?" Edward sounded disappointed.

"I'm done with being a virgin." Roy explained as he slathered some of the oil along his length and hands.

"Good, because so am I." Edward smiled as he pulled of his boxers. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Your father and brother gave me plenty of demonstrations." Roy left it at that. It was true, both of the other Elric Pairs were more than happy to show Roy how it was done. And Alphonse even offered to lend Roy some toys to which Roy declined. Using toys seemed a bit too complicated and offensive for your first time, after all. Edward nodded, knowing his family and their sex-crazed mind problems all too well.

Roy climbed back on the bed and parted Ed's legs. The younger one cooed happily, a small smile playing his lips. Roy gladly returned the smile, wishing he had two eyes to watch his lover with. Quickly he slipped a finger into Edward, making the boy squeak. Quickly Edward relaxed and squirmed in pleasure under Roy's nimble fingers. All the mewing and squeaking Edward was making did nothing but turn Roy on. Soon, more fingers were added, stretching and preparing Edward for what was about to come next.

"More!" Edward cried after he decided he was done with the fingers. Roy obliged him, aligning himself with Edward and thrusting in.

"Oh damn!" Roy gasped, feeling the wonderful sensation of Edward's tight warmth around his member. Edward himself moaned, arcing slightly of the feeling of being filled. He looked at Roy, happier than he had ever been in his life. Once Edward was adjusted enough, he twitched his hips. That was the on switch for Roy, and the older man began moving in and out, trying to find the bundle of nerves inside his lover.

**"Oh **_**fuck**_** yes!"** Edward yelled, jerking up when Roy hit it, sweat pouring down the young man as he shivered and convulsed in pleasure. Roy grunted contently then hit the spot again. Edward let out a loud moan that slightly resembled 'Roy'.

"Faster…." Edward panted moving his own hips to meet Roy's. Roy obliged quickly, reaching down to pump on his lover in time with the trusts. Neither lasted very long, it was there first time. When they came they both found themselves not screaming the other's name, but rather their Name.

"Fullflame!" Both cried in ecstasy. Roy pulled out and flopped down next to Edward.

"I love you." Roy told him.

"I love you too." Edward snuggled up next to Roy, gently kissing Roy's cheek.

"Not bad." Roy remarked, smiling like an idiot.

"Yeah." Edward nuzzled Roy, lost in the smell and feel of Roy being so close.

**Brring! Brring!**

Roy mumbled a curse and answered the phone. "Yes?"

_"Hey Roy, I just finished developing this new set of pictures of my-"_ Maes babbled on the other end. Edward sighed and grabbed the phone from Roy.

"Fuck off." Edward promptly told Maes and hung up.

"What the hell am I going to say to him the next time I see him?" Roy asked Edward grumpily.

"'Stay the hell away from my afterglow.'" Edward told Roy and went back to snuggling. Both men looked out the window, content to see the sun shining in. It was a new day for both of them, the first day of their lives together. Edward glanced at the calendar on the wall. It was October 3rd, the anniversary of the day Edward had been kidnapped by Envy, and oddly enough, the anniversary of the day Roy met Maes Hughes.

"We'll have to celebrate this day every year." Roy told Edward.

"Yes, it is a good day." Edward smiled.

Indeed it was a good day, and many more came after that.

**End.**

That's the end of the story, 116 pages long. Good? Bad? Satisfying? Please let me know.

**Special:** Roy with a stick!

Linda and Joseph exchanged looks. Before them was a 30 year old, sex-deprived, lonely, and somewhat crazy Sacrifice with a stick. That couldn't be a healthy combination. Maes wholeheartedly agreed with them when he was the overly-eager glint in Roy's eye.

"I'm going to smack you so hard you can't sit for weeks!" Roy promised them, walking over excitedly. Linda tired to dart to the left only to have Roy smack her hand, just the same way a teacher would smack a misbehaving student. Linda cringed, remembering being beaten with rulers during her training.

"So you remember it too?" Roy asked her. "You know how much this will hurt then."

"You leave her alone!" Joseph roared, only to have Roy smack him in the side of the head with the stick, hard.

"Roy! Don't give him a concussion!" Maes reminded his friend.

"Aw, but that takes the fun out of it!" Roy whined.

"Where the heck did you learn to be this sadistic?" Maes muttered.

"Our teacher." All the Named people responded.

"You all went through training together with some really fucked up teacher?" Maes was shocked.

"Several." Roy answered. "We got beaten on a regular basis."

"I kind of miss it; you know it was pretty damn hot sometimes." Joseph added.

"Er- Roy, put down the stick and let's interrogate them like normal people." Maes insisted quickly, trying to save himself from hearing about really screwed up sexual ideas.

"Okay." Roy only did this because Maes Felt really desperate.

**End.**

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Let me know what you think!

Whispers Behind Backs Preview 

"What do you mean Major Elric was targeted!?" Colonel Mustang demanded, fiercely smashing his hands upon the desk of Lieutenant Fuhrer Hauko.

"Exactly what I said, _squib_," the Lieutenant Fuhrer met Mustang's glare, "Major Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist is one of _Their_ targets."

"Fuck!" Mustang hissed, wishing he didn't have to hear that. "What are you going to do about it?"

_"I'm_ not doing anything, _squib_, this is your job." Hauko reminded Mustang. "You figure it out."

"Are you going to give me authorization for my actions?" Mustang inquired, it was a fair question. "Because if I'm left in charge, I'll be commandeering one your mages."

"You don't have the authority to do that." Hauko smirked.

"Are you trying to get that boy _killed!?"_ Mustang protested. "Don't you remember what he did for you and your family!?"

"These aren't my orders." Hauko left it at that. Mustang paled in his new-found silence.

"You aren't going to help?" Mustang asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Not you, _squib."_

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I look forward to seeing y'all there!


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